Weeks of Waiting
by obsidianLight16
Summary: Two years pass since Itachi and Deidara first meet and they're still up to no good. Or rather- Deidara is, along with the help of his newfound family. Things look to be alright at first, but now a problem concerning Itachi's missing parents comes up...
1. A Passing Week

**A/N: And here it is… the sequel to 'Week One'! *pumps fist into air***

"…"

**If only it lives up to expectations. :P**

**Okay, updates are going to be kind of random seeing how its summer and my brain/body willingly chose to go on a writing spree (like this morning). But rest assured this won't be abandoned. I have it all mapped out…for the most part. Just bear with me and be patient! **

**Enough rambling- here's the story. **

**Warning: Language, OOC, violence, etc.**

**Disclaimer: All rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto- for now. **

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><p>Itachi shook his head and blearily rubbed his eyes, patting at the desk beside his bed for his glasses that he totally didn't wear. He had just shoved the thing square frames on his face and tripped out of bed, when he finally took notice of the loud commotion coming from his kitchen. His dark eyes narrowed. There were an awful lot of chakra signatures in there- and all of which he knew.<p>

He growled. Ever since Deidara had officially joined in with his clan of psychopaths, he held parties every other night that ended with his bedroom in a fireworks show. Needless to say, he wasn't very pleased while all the other Uchihas, Naruto, and Hiruzen laughed at him. And he didn't even know why the Hokage was there in the first place!

Itachi took a deep breath to calm himself down, stumbling to his doorway with a brow twitching and frown on his face. Unfortunately he never made it out his door, slipping on a wet spot conveniently right in the gap between his room and the hallway.

There was the loud sound of snickering and hushed whispers which soon turned to shrieks as Itachi rose to his feet, Sharingan activated and wielding a katana that Shisui foolishly gave him for his past birthday.

That's right.

Uchiha Itachi was now officially fifteen years old.

Two years had passed since the horrific day his parents had left him with his younger brother and Naruto-no-baka. Two years of waking to pranks, Shisui, and more stupidity than he could handle. And the biggest problem?

His parents still hadn't come back.

* * *

><p><strong>Day One: Growing Up (<em>never easy and never reassuring- especially in this family)<em>**

Itachi huffily sat at the kitchen table, arms folded and sternly staring down a grinning blonde. "Did I ever tell you how much I hate you?"

Iwa Deidara cheekily winked. "Every day."

Now Itachi had come to like the annoying asshole that Deidara was to him. The blonde bomber was smart in his own right and always sticking up for what he thought was right. Like torturing Itachi and making him seem like the biggest idiot alive. Itachi still didn't get it.

Itachi rolled his eyes and grabbed the box of cereal in front of him, beginning to pour it before realizing he didn't get a bowl.

"Here nii-san," Sasuke muttered, chucking the needed item at his brother's head.

Itachi barely caught the flying projectile, giving Sasuke an annoyed glance. "Well look who woke up on the wrong side of bed. What- did Naruto stuff his foot in your mouth again?"

The youngest Uchiha scowled before taking a position next to Deidara, grumpily snatching the cereal from Itachi who was just about to pour himself some breakfast. "Why can't Naruto get his own futon like Deidara-nii?"

Itachi gave him a bored look. "Because we only had enough money for one. Besides, you know you'd just cry if you ever got separated from Naruto-no-baka."

Sasuke responded by stealing Itachi's spoon.

Deidara laughed at Itachi's misfortune before chuckling behind his hand when the raven's glare turned onto him. "Sorry. It's just that Sasu-kun's really turning into you. A cold, heartless, troll who feeds on the souls of pure-hearted children."

Sasuke looked at the older blonde with wide eyes. "Really?"

Deidara ruffled the boy's already tousled locks. "Nah. You'd never get _that _bad."

Itachi gave them both very dirty looks.

Naruto wandered into the kitchen looking lost and disorientated. "Where…am I?"

Sasuke sighed and threw his newly acquired spoon at the blonde's head.

"Ow! Sasuke- what was that for?" Naruto angrily glared at him.

"Your face annoyed me," Sasuke nonchalantly replied. "Now sit down and eat or else we'll be late for the Academy."

Itachi rolled his eyes and placed his chin in his palm, idly listening to the two bicker in the background.

Uzumaki Naruto was the most hyperactive and stupid kid to ever leave alone for more than three seconds. He had grown four inches over the years and still managed to be shorter than Sasuke who didn't grow at all. Granted the blonde had a big heart and had a great way with lightening the mood- but pulling pranks afterwards nearly always turned that loving aura into one of pain.

And then you had Uchiha Sasuke. Two years could really do a lot with a person's mindset. Sasuke had gone from the adorably loving kid to the one you always wanted to punch whenever he spoke. Well Deidara thought he was still adorable. But Itachi didn't really care for his opinion. Thankfully, Sasuke treasured his friendships and would not hesitate to defend his friends. Or beat the crap out of them when they pissed him off.

The sad part about all this, was that the two were only ten years old and already off on the path of violence and intolerance with each other.

Naruto scrunched his nose at the younger Uchiha. "You're so bossy Sasuke."

"Sue me."

"Maybe I will. Once Deidara-nii and I go blow up the bank of course…"

Itachi's head snapped to a smirking blonde. "I thought you said last week was the last time you'd do such a stupid thing!"

Deidara gave him a look. "I also said that every week before _that_. You need to get up to date un."

Itachi felt a vein pop. "Konoha can't keep building banks just because you enjoy seeing money fly around in the air."

"Well Konoha also needs its own taste of fun," Deidara scoffed, waving his hand at him. "With killjoys like you around its practically begging for some life."

"You're going to be begging for life as soon as I get my hands on you…" Itachi muttered under his breath. He glanced sideways at Naruto who flopped down beside him. "No blowing up the bank baka."

Naruto blew a raspberry in response.

Itachi's brow twitched, hand coming up to shove the blonde's head in his freshly poured bowl of cereal.

Naruto sputtered while Sasuke gaped and Deidara burst out laughing.

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><p><strong>Day Two: Fighting As Usual <em>(because old habits die hard)<em>**

Itachi walked into the living room with every intention of telling Deidara off for leaving a trail of mushy brown clay behind him as they walked through the village before shouting, 'OH COME _ON _ITACHI! I JUST POTTY-TRAINED YOU YESTERDAY!'

Itachi was proud to say that the Iwa nin now sported two large black eyes. Speaking of which…

The oldest Uchiha came to a halt, staring at Deidara who calmly sat on the couch before their new television set.

With a bag over his head.

Itachi was _slightly _disturbed when Deidara's head turned and all he could see were two cut-out circles where he presumed the blonde's eyes to be.

"…"

"…"

"What…are you doing Deidara?" Itachi finally asked after several more minutes of silence.

"I'm watching T.V., what else does it look like un?" Deidara all but snapped at him.

"Can you even see out of that?" Itachi wondered aloud.

Deidara turned his head back in the direction of the television. "Shut up. I'm not talking to you hmm."

Itachi raised a brow. "Why?"

"Because I had to go out in public with this bag over my head and everyone kept staring at me and whispering," Deidara vehemently hissed, crossing his arms. "And those stupid Hyuugas with their stupid apples kept chucking them at me when I walked by."

Itachi blinked. "I thought you liked Hinata."

"That's not the point!" Deidara all but shouted. "That Neji punk tried to throw a tree at me! A frickin' tree!"

"Take it easy will you?" Itachi rolled his eyes and strode over, standing in front of the blonde and blocking whatever gruesome movie he was watching.

"Get out of the way," Deidara growled.

Itachi thoughtfully hummed before leaning forward and ripping the bag off Deidara's head, ignoring the horrified gasp that came with it. He stared. "Oh my Kami you look like a panda. And not in the good way."

Deidara scowled fiercely and attempted to snatch back the bag Itachi had in his hands. "Gee, thanks for making me feel better you bastard hmm."

Itachi looked almost sympathetic. "Hey- you made it look like I had major bathroom issues."

"You do."

Itachi chose to ignore that. "I didn't know my punches would make that much damage."

"My skin's pretty delicate un. I try not to let anyone touch it."

"Right…" Itachi skeptically eyed him, thinking back to all the times Deidara had been hit. He shuddered at the thought of Orochimaru's Bitch Slap of Doom Jutsu. _In fact- is that even a real jutsu? It's like Ibiki's Sonic Clap jutsu. _He deadpanned. _Complete and utter bullshit._

Deidara sighed, opting to undo his hair tie and cover his entire face with his long hair. "There. Now no one can see anything."

"And neither can you," Itachi dryly said.

"Pipe down Uchiha-kun," Deidara grumbled. "I'll get you back in due time. Just you wait un…"

Itachi smirked, turning to walk away and leave the blonde to his own devices. "Bring it."

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><p><strong>Day Three: On The Matter of Age <em>(because none of them really knew)<em>**

"So…something's really been bothering me," Itachi said the next day at dinner. Naruto and Sasuke gave him expectant looks while Deidara simply ignored him.

"What is it nii-san?" Sasuke asked.

"We don't know how old Deidara is."

"…"

"…"

Deidara still ignored him, although now there was the slightest tick mark on his cheek.

Sasuke and Naruto looked at one another. "He has a point," Naruto said. "How old _is _Deidara-nii?"

Sasuke shrugged and then looked at the older blonde. "Aren't you older than nii-san?"

Deidara slowly turned to stare at the three who were staring back. "I'm…thirteen un."

"WHAT!"

"You're _younger _than me?" Itachi asked in disbelief. "That can't be right. You're telling me that you were eleven when we took the Chuunin Exams? You said you're a special Jounin. When did you…?"

Deidara pursed his lips, glaring at the raven. "Long before you, that's for sure you old geezer."

Itachi felt a vein pop.

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><p><strong>Day Four: Phone Call <em>(Itachi should have just disconnected the line)<em>**

_Ring…Ring…Ring…_

"Mushi-mushi un?"

"Hm? Who is this?"

Deidara held the phone away from his ear with an eyebrow raised. Then a coy smile spread across his face. He cleared his throat, making his voice higher than usual. "Oh, you must be Fugaku-sama. Itachi-kun has told me so much about you."

"_What? I…wasn't aware my son had company over."_

Deidara grinned. "You mean he never told you?"

"_Told me what?"_

"We're married~!"

"_WHAT!"_

Deidara had to cover the speaker of the phone as he laughed hysterically to himself. Once he had managed to get the tremors in his voice under control, he went back to his conversation. "Itachi-kun isn't here right now, but I can kindly take a message."

"…"

"Fugaku-sama?"

"…"

Deidara shrugged, hanging the phone back up with a large grin. "Must've killed him un."

Itachi walked out of the kitchen, a bowl of chips in his hands. He knew something was up when he saw Deidara standing by the phone with an euphoric expression on his face and snickering loudly. "What did you do?" he dryly asked.

The blonde turned to look at him. "Oh nothing Itachi-kun~ If I were you, I'd call your father back and make sure he's still breathing hmm." He began walking down the hall.

Itachi stared after him. "What?"

Deidara waved a hand carelessly behind him, beginning to pick up his walking pace. "Nothing un."

"What did you do Deidara?" Itachi shouted after him. He glanced towards the phone, holding the bowl of chips in one hand while checking through the Caller ID list with his other. His eyes widened at the most recent number and name. _Oh. My- _"DEIDARA!"

Deidara burst out laughing, breaking into a run with the older Uchiha hot on his trail.

Sasuke poked his head out the living room doorway as his brother ran by. "Nii-san, what's-?"

Itachi flipped the bowl onto his head. "Not now Sasuke!"

Sasuke deadpanned, lifting the bowl off his head as the chips inside poured down his shirt. "Gee, thanks nii-san." He sighed, turning to go back to the couch where Naruto was seated. They had been watching a horror movie when the phone rang. And Sasuke- with his super hearing abilities that he had- listened in on the phone conversation.

He really wouldn't be surprised if his dad died.

"I thought you went to get snacks-" Naruto cut himself off, staring at his chip-covered friend. He reached over, pulling a chip out of the raven's hair and threw it inside his mouth, chewing obnoxiously for a good three minutes before beaming like a mad-man. "Wow! My favorite flavor!"

Sasuke blinked. "Sometimes I have the urge to punch you."

"Huh?"

"Nevermind."

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><p><strong>Day Five: Wedding Gift <em>(every married couple get one, right?)<em>**

Itachi growled as the doorbell rang, sitting up in bed and throwing his covers off of him. He glared at the blonde sprawled across his own futon before getting up and throwing his pillow at the bomber's head. Just because he liked pissing the blonde off- and he now had to figure out a way to assure his father that he was _not _married. That, and he had missed his chance at finding out where exactly his parents were! Two years was an awfully long time to be on vacation.

Deidara snarled something that sounded like a curse before chucking the pillow right back at him, missing in his sleepy state.

Itachi ignored the blonde, stomping out the room as the doorbell rang again. "I'm coming already so shut the hell up already!"

"PMSing bastard!" Deidara's voice could be heard shouting after him.

Itachi launched himself at the front door as it rang again, throwing it open in almost a maddened state. After all, he was still donned in his pajamas, hair out and askew. "What do you want?" he practically screamed into the face of whoever was out there.

Shisui grinned with a wave, one arm hidden behind him. "Ohaiyo favorite cousin number two."

Itachi's eye twitched. "Number two?"

"Yeah." Shisui's grin grew. "Deidara's now my number one favorite cousin."

"Just tell me what you want," Itachi ground out. "And why you've seen it fit to wake me at seven in the morning on a Friday which is my day of relaxation."

Shisui smirked. "I just like screwing with you."

Itachi felt a vein pop. "Shisui…you-"

"And also-" Shisui whipped out what he had been hiding behind his back, holding out a bouquet, sparkles surrounding him as he loudly said, "CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR MARRIAGE!"

Itachi's fingers clenched and unclenched before his fist went flying into his older cousin's face. There were several tic marks plastered to the back of his head as he grabbed the flowers and slammed the front door, storming through the house and back into his bedroom where Deidara was groggily getting changed.

He looked up in the process of pulling on a shirt when the Uchiha came in. "Hey, what's the big idea you bastard un-"

Itachi smacked him over the head with the bouquet, vein throbbing. "Here's a wedding gift from Shisui you baka!"

Deidara took the flowers, a suddenly glowing aura around his body. "Flowers for me?" he dramatically cooed. "Why Itachi-kun~ you shouldn't have!" He lunged for the older teen.

Itachi blanched and hurriedly scooted away. "Don't do that!"

"But we're married!"

"No we're not!"

Deidara smirked, beginning to chase the raven out the room and down the hall. "Itachi-kun come back!"

"Stay back you horrid monster!"

Naruto groggily walked outside his shared room, only to be yanked back by his shirt by Sasuke before he could be run over by a wide-eyed Itachi and laughing Deidara. "WHA-?"

"Dobe," Sasuke sighed.

Naruto rubbed his eyes. "What's going on…?"

"Nii-san and Deidara-nii got married."

Naruto's eyes bugged. "Huh?"

Itachi halted, letting Deidara run into his back as he whirled around to point a finger at his grinning younger brother. "Stop spreading lies foolish little brother!"

Sasuke shrugged, turning to go back into his room and dragging his best friend along with him. "Have fun on your honeymoon," he called.

"SASUKE!"

Deidara snickered, holding back a raging Uchiha who had many tic marks plastered onto his head.

* * *

><p><strong>Day Six: Typical Mission Briefing <em>(it's the Third Hokage- what do you expect?)<em>**

"Hokage-sama, you wanted to see us," Itachi politely said from inside the Hokage's office.

The old man was calmly sitting at his desk, smoking a pipe and looking out the large window behind him. "Yes I did."

Itachi stared at his Hokage. "Smoking will kill you."

"So will this pipe!" The Third Hokage shouted, chucking the object in his mouth at the Uchiha's head.

Itachi dodged, his eye twitching.

Deidara laughed quietly from his position next to the older raven, waving his hands placatingly at his Hokage. "It's okay Hiruzen. Sometimes Itachi-kun speaks without thinking un."

"Doesn't he do that all the time?" Hiruzen asked.

Deidara blinked. "Good point."

Itachi whacked the blonde over the head.

"Ow!"

"Anyway," The Hokage continued, as if he hadn't attempted to strike down one of his most talented shinobi with a smoking pipe. "Your mission is very simple. Or it should be for one of your ability Deidara."

Itachi held out a fist, vein throbbing. "Are you ignoring me on purpose!"

"Wow~ thanks Hiruzen un," Deidara grinned.

"Sure kiddo," the Hokage laughed.

Itachi hung his head. "They are…"

"So what's our mission?" Deidara curiously asked.

"Glad you asked," the Hokage hummed.

Itachi felt a brow quirk uncontrollably. _Don't say something like that when you summoned us here in the first place! _

"You two are to retrieve a very important scroll from an old friend's base," Hiruzen informed them.

"An old friend?" Itachi inquired.

Hiruzen nodded, stroking his tiny beard. "Orochimaru."

Both Itachi and Deidara's eyes widened. "Orochimaru!"

Hiruzen tossed them a mission scroll which Itachi caught one-handed. "That's right."

Itachi glanced to the side, noticing Deidara subconsciously rubbing his cheek with a sore look. He couldn't help but roll his eyes and swat the blonde's hand away from his face. "We'll take the mission Hokage-sama. Does it pay well?"

The Third Hokage flashed them a thumbs up. "You bet it does!"

Deidara perked up considerably. "Hooray!"

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><p><strong>Day Seven: An Old 'Friend' <em>(payback time!)<em>**

"Well we've got the scroll un," Deidara said. "But this was way too easy!"

"For once I agree," Itachi replied, pocketing the scroll in the confines of his shirt.

Deidara blew a raspberry at him. "Whatever. Let's just get out of here~"

Itachi narrowed his eyes, drawing back a leg to kick Deidara hard in his face.

Deidara sprawled onto the ground, looking over his shoulder with wide eyes and a trial of blood dripping out his mouth. "What the hell was that for?"

Itachi stepped forward, Sharingan activated. "Did you really think I'd let you leave…Orochimaru?"

Deidara straightened up, a coy smile on his lips as he licked the blood away. "How'd you know it was me Itachi-kun~?"

"Because of that annoying habit you have. _Itachi-kun_~" Itachi irritably mocked as the henge of his teammate was dropped. "It's pretty hard to ignore."

Orochimaru tilted his head to the side. "So what are you going to do? Fight me?"

Itachi blinked. "No need."

"Yeah you creepy jerk! Not when I'm here yo do it!" Deidara dropped down from the ceiling, delivering a flying kick to the older man's head. Orochimaru went skidding a few feet away. The blonde glared at him and then looked at Itachi. "Thanks for helping me out that snake pit back there un."

Itachi smirked a bit. "You could get out yourself. Besides, it was fun waiting to see what Orochimaru had planned."

Deidara stomped his foot, vein popping. "It wasn't fun for me!"

Orochimaru suddenly appeared before the younger blonde. "I see you just can't wait to be struck down by me again~"

Deidara smirked, getting into a stance neither Orochimaru or Itachi had seen before. "Oh really un? I haven't forgotten our last encounter. So here's to returning the favor- TENFOLD!" He swiveled on the heel of his foot, bringing his palm around front to slam it into the snake man's face. "NINPO: BITCHSLAP OF DOOM PAYBACK STYLE!"

"Wha-!" Orochimaru went flying into a stone pillar fifty feet away which collapsed immediately upon contact.

Itachi stared wide-eyed and then looked at Deidara who was shaking out his hand. "What the hell was that?"

Deidara amusedly faced him. "New jutsu."

Itachi felt an eye twitch as he lunged forward, tugging on the corners of the blonde's cheeks with a popped vein. "That wasn't even a real jutsu Dei-da-ra! It looked like something from the Hyuuga Clan!"

Deidara tried to push the raven away. "Oi, oi- don't get all jealous just because you can't touch my ability hmm _Itachi._"

Several tic marks plastered themselves to the back of Itachi's head. "Who's getting jealous?"

Suddenly the floor began to tremble, bits and pieces of the stone room they were in beginning to fall apart. The two stopped their bickering, jumping apart as a giant metal beam fell where they had just been standing.

Deidara looked around, brows furrowed. "Where did we come in again?"

Itachi also glanced about, motioning up to a platform behind the blonde. "We'll head out there."

Deidara nodded, taking off for the platform immediately.

Itachi was about to follow when his Sharingan picked up on a chakra signature coming up on his side. _So he's still alive? Of course this guy wouldn't die with that stupid jutsu Deidara used, _Itachi thought with a rather large sweatdrop.

Orochimaru grabbed Itachi by the shoulder, cheek obnoxiously swollen. "I won't let you get away Itachi-kun!"

Itachi felt an eye twitch as a particularly large hunk of ceiling came crashing down beside them.

Orochimaru encouragingly smiled. "Come join me."

"KATON: FLAMING FIST NO JUTSU!" Itachi punched him in the face, sending Orochimaru flying into the same pillar Deidara had, before meeting up with the blonde at the exit.

Deidara glanced at him as they started to run out the caving building. "And you yell at me for making up jutsus un."

"Shut up."

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><p><strong>AN: So how was it? I'm curious what you think about it.**

**^v6**

**It was utterly fun to write though **


	2. Another Week

**A/N: Thanks for the positive feedback so far. I thought the phone call was hilarious too :P**

**Warning: Language, OOC, violence, and why don't I just copy & paste this thing... -_-u**

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><p>Itachi sat at his kitchen table, legs folded beneath him as he glared holes into the phone he held. For some odd reason, he couldn't trace the call back to his father and mother's location. And according to several phone companies, the call had never even been made. Itachi felt his brows furrow. <em>Just what does that mean…?<em>

"You know- keep frowning like that and you'll end up with even more stress lines than you already have."

Itachi looked up from the phone and cross-eyed at the finger poking itself into the middle of his forehead. A vein popped. "How the hell did you get in here Shisui!" he shouted as his older cousin.

Shisui grinned, leaning back to watch Itachi on his haunches. "Who knows…"

"Shi…sui…." Itachi dangerously ground out.

Shisui laughed, jabbing a thumb behind him. "Kidding, kidding. Deidara let me in."

Deidara waved from the doorway with a cheerful grin.

Itachi's eye twitched before he threw the phone at the blonde. "You _idiot!_"

Deidara caught the phone with a hand, smiling innocently in Shisui's presence. "I just thought you could do with some company un."

Shisui squealed, jumping up to pull his new cousin in a tight hug. "You're so sweet! So much nicer than Mr. Grumpy Pants over there!"

Deidara wistfully. "I've tried to get him to change but…"

Itachi almost broke the table he was sitting at in half. "I can hear you morons perfectly clear!"

"Well good!" Deidara stuck on his tongue, moving away from Shisui and over to him. "I'd hate to think that you've gone deaf un!"

"I'll make you deaf in a minute if you don't leave right now…" Itachi darkly muttered.

Deidara merely laughed. "Oh relax. I just called Shisui here to make sure Sasu-kun and Naru-chan have someone to look after them."

Itachi suspiciously looked at him and then to his beaming cousin who was irking him more and more by the second. "Why would those bakas need someone to look after them?" he asked.

"Because _Iruka-san _needs us at the Academy for help teaching his class on basic fighting techniques," Deidara explained. "He wants us two to demonstrate."

Itachi didn't miss the way the blonde's face darkened at the mention of Iruka's name. Ever since the older teen had stolen Deidara's group of kids away at the Academy tour and treated them to ice cream in his place, Deidara had held some sort of a grudge towards the Academy teacher. Oh well. As long as he didn't try and kill the brunette he could do as he liked.

Which currently involved pranking him along with Naruto and hanging him from various places by his underwear.

Itachi inwardly rolled his eyes. And they dared to call _him _immature.

But back to the matter at hand…

"I guess that's alright," Itachi finally answered. "When do we need to be there?"

Deidara idly placed the phone on the table in front of the both of them, visible eye twinkling. "In about three minutes hmm."

"…"

"…"

Shisui grinned.

Itachi whacked Deidara over the head. "Just what are you playing at?" he angrily asked.

Deidara snickered, moving back while holding the welt on his head with a smirk. "Now, now, Itachi-kun," he drawled. "Let's not keep all the children waiting. I heard Neji and his two friends will be there to watch un."

Itachi felt like bashing his head through a wall.

Deidara happily pranced away. "Less than two minutes. See you there _troll_."

And then he vanished in a swirl of leaves- a giant boulder where he used to be standing.

Well at least it was better than flinging miniature stones everywhere and breaking everything in sight.

Itachi sighed in aggravation, getting ready to shunshin as well when he noticed his cousin just standing there. Watching him. "What…are you staring at?"

Shisui heaved his shoulders. "Just you suffering. It's quite fun."

"Oh really now?" Itachi asked, brow quirking. "MANGEKYO!"

"YOU REALLY DO LOVE ME~!" Shisui exclaimed as he sunk to the ground in a melted puddle.

Itachi deadpanned, choosing to leave at that moment. Sasuke and Naruto could always just mop up the mess.

And man-oh-man was he going to kill Deidara when he got his hands on him…

* * *

><p><strong>Day One: Academy Demonstration <em>(what was supposed to be a basic fight)<em>**

Iruka and his class of young students were gathered outside, surrounding a ring in the center of one of the Academy's training yards. The ring spread to the far edges of the yard.

The brunette teacher motioned for his two demonstrators to step forward. "Alright," he said. "Are you two ready to begin?"

Itachi and Deidara faced one another, the former with a disgruntled expression and the latter grinning jovially.

After all, it wasn't everyday one got to witness an Uchiha getting pants in the middle of a schoolyard by an eleven year old Hyuuga.

Now Deidara might have held a grudge towards little Neji for throwing a tree at him, but watching Itachi get publicly humiliated and drop-kick the child was enough to make him smile.

Itachi glared at him. "Wipe that look off your face."

Deidara's grin grew. "What look?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

"No I don't un."

Iruka held up his hands. "Take it easy you two. We're just going for something easy-going and light, alright?"

Deidara felt an eye twitch, turning to look at the brunette. "Sure thing _Iruka-san_. Say- if I do good, will you treat me for some ice cream hmm?"

Iruka felt a vein pop. "Definitely not!" he shouted, tugging on the blonde's ear. "Next time you try and shove an iron down my pants I'll kill you!"

All the children gasped at the display of violence from such a sweet teacher.

Iruka noticed, flushing pink before releasing Deidara and coughing lightly. "Just kidding," he said with a laugh.

The kids sighed in relief.

"Now," Iruka cast Deidara a wary look and then glanced at Itachi. "You two are aware of the rules of this kind of fight I assume?"

"Of course," Itachi answered.

"Yeah right," Neji scoffed from behind Iruka. "This isn't a _barbarian _fight Uchiha."

Itachi resisted the urge to Mangekyo the brat into oblivion, knowing that the Hyuuga-Uchiha Alliance rested on his very unstable teenage shoulders. "I'm aware," Deidara said, almost too seriously.

Iruka looked at the blonde and nodded, taking a step back. "Then…"

Itachi and Deidara both formed half of a seal, looking into one another's eyes.

Iruka brought down a hand. "Hajime!"

Deidara blinked in surprise as the Uchiha vanished from sight. He felt a flicker of a chakra presence before the raven appeared in front of him.

Itachi knocked him flat to the ground, drawing back a fist.

Deidara put on a pitiful face. "You'd hit your own wife?"

Itachi paused, eye twitching violently. "Mention that one more time…"

Deidara smirked, kicking the older teen off of him and flipping back onto his feet. "Just kidding un. You get distracted way to easily." He beckoned with a hand. "Come on already."

Iruka sweatdropped, brow quirking. "Ano…you guys…"

Itachi didn't bother to answer, instead appearing behind Deidara. The blonde quickly shifted several steps forward before kicking his leg back. Itachi caught the leg easily, Sharingan activated out of annoyance more than anything else. Deidara twisted himself out of the iron grip, bringing up his other leg to kick the raven in the jaw. Itachi moved into a backbend to avoid the blow, using his hands to turn himself and catch Deidara in a spinning kick which the younger teen dodged. The two then engaged in a quick parry of fists and legs, moving close to the edges of the fighting ring but never out of it.

Iruka hung his head. "This is supposed to be a demonstration for the kids…not your own personal fight…" he deadpanned.

Naruto turned to Sasuke as they watched their two older brothers fight. "I'm gonna be just like Deidara-nii one day and kick your butt!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "It's obvious nii-san is going to win."

"Nu-uh!"

"Shut up and get out of my face Naru-chan," Sasuke said, trying to push the blonde out of his personal space.

Meanwhile in the ring, Deidara had moved back several yards and flung a round of shuriken at Itachi.

Itachi sidestepped, fingers already forming fast seals.

Deidara rolled in the opposite direction of the fireball headed his way, looking at the giant flames with large eyes.

All the kids clapped in awe at the perfectly controlled fire jutsu.

Itachi smirked.

Deidara rolled his eyes and formed a hand seal.

Iruka covered his face with his hands. "Oh my gosh…this isn't even taijutsu anymore…"

Itachi performed a substitution as the butterfly on his shoulder exploded, drawing a kunai as he slid up next to the blonde, kicking him in the side. Deidara blocked, stepping back before pulling out a kunai of his own and meeting Itachi's weapon with it. They were exchanging quite pointless swipes of slashes when Deidara flipped back and Itachi sliced the hem of a pant leg in half.

Deidara looked oblivious to the attack, merely rushing in again.

Itachi's eyes caught sight of his opponent's leg, inwardly raising a brow. It seemed as if Deidara was unaware of the problem the cut to his pants caused. He smirked, stepping on the loose hem of Deidara' pants. Deidara skidded backwards, loosing his balance momentarily and dropping his kunai as his eyes widened. Itachi pinned him to the ground, a knee in his stomach and kunai poised at the blonde's heart.

Deidara nudged his head up with a smirk.

Itachi narrowed his eyes at the feeling of a kunai grazing the back of his neck. "Another one hiding in your sleeve?"

"You couldn't tell with your Sharingan?" Deidara mockingly asked.

Itachi glared at him.

Iruka walked over, hands on his hips. "Alright you two- the match is over, you can put the kunai away now."

Deidara snickered at Iruka's aggravation, looking past Itachi's shoulder to grin at the brunette. "Sorry. Things got heated hmm."

Iruka held up a fist, eyes closed and vein throbbing. "I'll show you heated…"

Itachi rolled his eyes and climbed off of Deidara, pocketing his kunai. "Stop provoking people Deidara."

The blonde shrugged, rolling to his feet as he put away his own weapon. "It's a natural talent."

"That's not a natural talent," Itachi muttered with a glare in his direction.

Iruka, able to compose himself somewhat, motioned for the them to step closer to one another. "Alright, show your respect for one another."

"I'd much rather see them fight again," Kiba whispered to the kid next to him.

"The match is over- there's no need," Shino said, pushing his glasses up.

Kiba jumped away in fright. "When did you get there?"

Shino's dark glasses turned to look at him. "I was sitting beside you the entire time."

Kiba scrunched his nose up, suspiciously eyeing him.

Iruka clapped his hands. "Any day now guys."

"…" Itachi analyzed the blonde in front of him. _He's not bad at all. But he always acts like such a baka… _

Deidara grinned at him, tilting his head to the side as he held out two fingers. "That was fun. Let's do it again sometime un."

Itachi stared at him before sighing, grasping the fingers with two of his own and smiling a bit. "You're on."

* * *

><p><strong>Day Two: Watching <em>(here comes the summer heat again…)<em>**

Sasuke snickered under his breath, watching as his older brother and Naruto got into an argument over respecting ones elders once again. He sat on a swing set in the middle of the park, idly pushing off the ground but not really aiming to go anywhere.

"What's so funny un?"

Sasuke looked over his shoulder with a grin as Deidara walked up to the swings, three popsicles in his gloved hands and an equally large grin on his face. "Naruto and nii-san are at it again."

Deidara rolled his eyes in amusement, sitting on the swing next to the younger Uchiha. He offered one of the treats which Sasuke gladly accepted in the blistering summer heat. "They'll probably still be at it several years from now," he said with a laugh.

Sasuke laughed along with him. "Yeah- probably."

"Ahahahahaha-"

"Hahahahahahaha-"

"Ahahahaunhahahunhahahaun-"

"What are you two doing?" a dry voice asked from in front of them.

Sasuke and Deidara paused in their laughing to look at the gruff Uchiha and equally gruff blonde in front of them.

Sasuke took an obnoxious bite out of his cool treat, eyeing his brother. "Nothing much. What were _you _doing?"

"No need to ask that Sasu-kun," Deidara jeered, jabbing a thumb at Itachi who popped a vein. "It's obvious this loser was being made fun of again."

"He _is _a loser," Sasuke idly commented.

Itachi whacked them both over the head.

Deidara chuckled, holding out one of the popsicles to Naruto who gladly took it before standing beside Sasuke.

"Hey- you wanna go on the jungle-gym?" Naruto excitedly asked.

Sasuke gave him a bright look, getting off his swing. "Fine. But if you fall off it's not my fault," he laughed, pushing playfully at his best friend as they raced for the jungle-gym.

Itachi let out an aggravated sigh, taking the swing Sasuke just abandoned. "Kami-sama they wear me out," he muttered.

"That's because you're a bore," Deidara sniggered, looking off to the side.

Itachi gave the blonde a sore look before taking note of the one popsicle left in his possession. "Hey…"

"What un?"

"Give me that."

Deidara looked at him. "Excuse me?"

Itachi pointed at the treat. "It's hot. You got one for everyone right?"

Deidara stuck out his tongue. "Yeah- everyone but _you_."

Itachi's eye twitched. "Baka… look- just hand it over."

"Why should I? It's mine!" Deidara argued, holding the popsicle close to his chest.

Itachi growled, standing up from his swing to stomp in front of the Iwa nin. "You should share! Caring is sharing!"

"Unless you don't care un!" Deidara rolled backwards off the swing, backing away several feet as Itachi stalked closer. "Stay away from me!"

"Give me the popsicle!"

"Waaahhh!"

_Splat. _

"…"

"…"

Both teens started at the melted glob in the mulch.

And then at each other.

"Why you-!" Deidara kicked Itachi in the shin. "You dropped it you moron!"

"Ow! Watch it you little blonde termite!" Itachi snarled, lunging at him with his Sharingan activated.

Sasuke and Naruto looked up at the sound of struggle and bickering coming from the swing set.

"Huh?" Sasuke's eyes were wide. "They were just sitting there a moment ago."

"Oh come on Sasuke," Naruto boisterously said. "You should have expected it. They'll probably still be at it several years from now," he wisely said.

Sasuke looked at him before they both started to laugh.

"Yeah…"

* * *

><p><strong>Day Three: Boredom <em>(we all know what that leads to…)<em>**

Deidara sat in the living room, Sasuke and Naruto on either side of him.

"…"

"…"

"…un."

"Deidara-nii," Naruto said in a monotone.

"What do you want Naru-chan?" Deidara asked in an equally dull voice.

"I'm bored."

"Me too," Sasuke intoned.

"Oh…"

The three sat, unmoving, staring at the blank television screen in front of them. And then-

"You guys wanna see some fireworks yeah?"

"Sure," the two children unenthusiastically said.

Deidara smirked, forming a seal. "Katsu."

A large explosion came from one of the bedrooms down the hall.

"DAMMIT DEIDARA!" Itachi roared, his footsteps thundering down the hallway.

Deidara laughed as Naruto and Sasuke jumped to life, giggling amongst themselves as they searched for a place to hide. "Mission accomplished un."

* * *

><p><strong>Day Four: Meaningless Apologies <em>(they both understand anyway)<em>**

Shisui annoyingly poked his cousin in the head as they walked down the hospital corridor. "Maybe you should take some anger management classes. You're crazy."

Itachi irritably swatted the finger prodding at him away, eyeing the number on the doors as they passed. "I don't need classes. People should just not bother me."

Shisui poked him again.

Itachi drop-kicked him.

"See what I mean!" Shisui cried from under his feet.

~X~

A few minutes later the two arrived in front of room 109, although one of them had a severe limp and bruising chin.

Shisui cast Itachi a poor look. "I'm just surprised you didn't Mangekyo me."

Itachi harrumphed importantly, pushing open the room door without knocking. "I didn't want to disturb the other patients with your annoying screams."

Shisui looked away, fake tears pouring down his face. "So mean…"

Deidara looked over from where he sat in the hospital bed, raising a brow when he saw who entered. "What are you guys doing here hmm?"

Itachi scowled as Shisui forcibly pushed him inside.

Shisui grinned, bounding over to the blonde but not embracing him. "We came to see you!" he happily exclaimed. "I would glomp you but I don't want to hurt you anymore than Itachi-no-baka did."

Itachi glared.

Deidara tilted his head to the side. "It's okay- I don't mind." _I can't breathe in your hugs anyway… _he thought with a slight sweatdrop.

Shisui stepped back, looking over his shoulder to his cousin who was just standing there. "Come on Itachi. This is your fault you know."

If anything, the glare on Itachi's face grew darker. "Why do _I _always have to deal with the aftermath when Deidara's the one who _blows _up my room?"

"Because it's more fun," Shisui replied, ignoring the thunderclouds gathering above his cousin's head.

Deidara slowly blinked in Itachi's direction. "Was there…something you wanted to say un?"

Itachi stared and then looked away. "…"

Shisui grinned, clapping Itachi on the shoulder. "Well I'll be waiting outside. Have fun!" he chirped.

Itachi looked at him with narrowed eyes before turning his attention back to the blonde expectantly watching him. "Well…what do you want?"

Deidara smiled a bit. "How sweet! You come to visit little 'ole me hmm?"

"Don't look so happy," Itachi muttered. "I was forced to."

"Then what's in your hand?"

Itachi glared at him. "What are you talking about?"

Deidara pointed at the stuffed animal the older Uchiha held.

Itachi felt a part of him die. _I'm going to kill Shisui and use his soul to refuel me. _He twitched violently, resisting the urge to set the little puppy on fire. "I didn't bring it for you."

"Well that's good to hear," Deidara suddenly laughed, getting out of the bed. "That'd be so weird."

Itachi's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Deidara looked at him. "Hm? What do you mean? We're going home, right un?"

Itachi gaped wordlessly before blurting out, "Your injuries baka! You're not supposed to be walking!"

"Oh those?" Deidara nonchalantly waved a hand. "I faked them. It was worth it hearing an apology from you though."

Itachi felt an eye twitch. "Is…that so…?"

Deidara blinked, glancing at him. "Well what's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with- I'll show you what's wrong with me!" Itachi shouted, beginning to strangle the younger blonde.

~X~

**-The Next Day-**

~X~

Itachi smirked, handing a bedridden Deidara a stuffed bird. "This should make you feel better."

Deidara, with a black eye, swollen cheeks, and glare, snatched the bird before turning onto his side. "Shut up you bastard."

Itachi snickered. "At least you don't have to fake it this time," he said.

* * *

><p><strong>Day Five: Dinner ( the benefits and the nonbenefits)<strong>

Itachi was walking down the streets of Konoha, grumbling under his breath about stupid younger siblings who couldn't cook to save their lives and complaining about _his _horrible cooking skills. As it was, he had been the one asked to pick up some takeout from Ichiraku.

Or it was more like-

"_Oi! Itachi-nii!" Naruto called from the kitchen as Itachi walked by. "Your cooking sucks! Go pick up some food!"_

_Itachi felt his fingers clench and a vein pop. "What did you say…? You little-?"_

_Sasuke tugged on his elbow from behind. "He has a point. I don't wanna starve because you never went to those cooking classes kaa-san signed you up for."_

_Itachi was definitely popping several veins now. "Foolish little brother….she signed you up too."_

"_Yeah, but you're older so the responsibility falls on you," Sasuke flippantly said. _

_Itachi's neck snapped to the side as he envisioned bashing both Naruto and Sasuke's head through the wall. And suddenly- someone was pulling him by the back of his obnoxiously large collar, throwing him outside the house. _

_Deidara waved at him from inside the doorway. "Don't come back until you get something decent you bastard un~!"_

_Itachi stood to his feet, shaking a fist at him. "Don't sound so happy you idiot!"_

_Deidara's answer was to slam the door shut and lock it with several seals. _

_The oldest Uchiha slapped a palm to his head. "Dammit!"_

-And thus his current predicament.

Sometimes he had the urge to stuff them all in a box and ship them off in the middle of nowhere just for kicks. But then he realized he'd be bored and have nothing and no one to pick on.

Yeah. That was definitely the reason why.

Itachi was just at the entrance of Ichiraku when a familiar silver-haired shinobi ran up to him, vengeance in his eyes. He inwardly groaned. _Oh here we go…_

"There you are Itachi-kun!" Kakashi shouted, pulling out a kunai. "I'll get you back for burning my collection of books last year!"

Itachi rolled his eyes. "That was Deidara, not me."

"I don't care!"

Itachi huffed in annoyance, punching the older teen before stomping on him several times. "Leave me alone!"

"Kakashi-kun!" Rin cried out, running to her frothing and twitching teammate in the middle of the street. She looked at Itachi. "How could you?"

Itachi placed a finger to his temple. "He attacked me first."

Obito walked up to his two teammates at a more leisurely pace, arms behind his neck. "Eh- hey Itachi."

"Hey Obito," Itachi greeted. The other Uchiha was the only one he could stand in this insane village. Although he rarely visited the Compound, he still kept in touch with Shisui and the others.

Rin raised a fist in Obito's direction. "Stop fraternizing with the enemy!" she roared.

Obito looked off to the side deadpanning. "He's my nephew or something though…"

"How the heck is he your nephew when you're only a few years older?" Rin asked with a throbbing vein.

"How should I know?" Obito exasperatedly asked, nudging an unconscious Kakashi with his toe.

"Because it's your family tree!" Rin shouted. "And stop kicking Kakashi-kun!"

"A screwed up family tree," Itachi muttered, heading into Ichiraku's over the bickering in the back. _Those idiots at home better be grateful I wasted ten minutes of my life getting them food…_

_~X~_

**-Back at the main Uchiha household-**

~X~

"ACHOO!"

"Ow un!" Deidara held his nose, taking the tissue Sasuke offered.

Naruto rubbed his nose as well. "Someone must talking about us…"

"Must be nii-san," Sasuke muttered.

Deidara narrowed his visible eye. "Well he's not getting in here after that hmm."

Itachi banged on the front door. "LET ME IN YOU MORONS!"

* * *

><p><strong>Day Six: Hanging Out <em>(why…just…why?)<em>**

Deidara sat on Itachi's bed, a big smile on his face and bottle of nail polish in his hands.

Itachi walked into the room, looked at him, and then walked right back out.

Deidara scrambled off the bed, grabbing Itachi before he could get too far away. Pulling him back into the room and forcing him to sit down on his futon, Deidara said, "Let's paint our nails together un!"

"No." Itachi stood up, fully intent on leaving.

Deidara just pushed him down again, frowning although the light in his eye said otherwise. "It's not because I want to _Itachi_. But I got a letter in the mail from Pein and the others."

"They send us mail?" Itachi asked.

"Mmhmm," Deidara bobbed his head. "I just never let you see it."

Itachi kneed him in the gut. "Baka."

"Itai! What a jerk!" Deidara plopped down beside him, the nail polish in between them. "In the latest letter, Pein said he and everyone else decided to paint their nails for their Club! To show unity and all that stuff un."

Itachi put his face in his hands. "Figures Pein would think of something like this."

Deidara mischievously pulled his hands away, wagging the bottle of purple nail polish with a smirk. "I'll take care of you first guinea pig."

Itachi blanched. "You've never done this before!" he exclaimed.

Deidara grinned. "Nope! Now c'mere!"

~X~

**-Thirty Painful Minutes Later-**

~X~

"No! I refuse to leave!"

"Come on yeah!"

"You can't make me!"

Deidara finally tugged Itachi off of the ceiling, forcing him out the bedroom doorway.

Itachi glared fiercely. "If I have to put up with ridicule from Shisui or anyone else…"

"You won't un!" Deidara dragged Itachi out into the hall to where he could sense the chakra signatures of their younger siblings. "Sasu-kun! Naru-chan!" he loudly called.

Itachi glanced at him in annoyance. "They never come when I call, so what makes you think they'll show up when-"

"Hai!" Sasuke and Naruto chirped, suddenly in front of them.

"Of course," Itachi deadpanned. "Why am I not surprised?"

Deidara smirked at him before waving his hands at the two kids that appeared. "Check it out un!"

Sasuke immediately ran forward, grabbing a hand. "Wow Deidara-nii!" he exclaimed. "Your nails look great!"

Naruto grabbed the older blonde's other hand. "Yeah! There's fantastic!"

"Thanks un," Deidara said with a grin. "I did it _all _by myself hmm."

Itachi felt an eye twitch. "What about mine?"

"Well…" Sasuke pursed his lips. "They're okay I guess."

"Not as cool as Deidara-nii," Naruto agreed.

Itachi felt fire rise up behind him and a vein pop. "You little brats…"

Sasuke and Naruto laughed in unison before racing off towards their shared room.

Itachi growled under his breath, beginning to stomp in the direction of his own room.

"Hey Itachi un?"

Itachi paused, looking over his shoulder.

Deidara flashed him a thumbs up. "I think your nails look even better than mine."

Itachi blinked and then turned back around, waving a hand behind him. "Whatever."

He cursed his emotions for allowing the happy smile to spread across his face.

* * *

><p><strong>Day Seven: Surprise <em>(he should have seen this coming)<em>**

Deidara absently walked down the halls of the main household, a feeling of foreboding falling over him. He had felt it approaching ever since he had first met Itachi and the others. But now it was stronger than ever. Something was going to happen.

And it was big.

Sasuke and Naruto were spending the night at Sakura's house, claiming it was for bonding purposes. Deidara didn't question it. He'd rather _not _face Sakura's mom's wrath.

_Geez. What a mouthful… _Deidara thought.

Itachi was supposed to be getting them soda and popcorn for a movie they had started watching in the living room, but he hadn't come back for the last ten minutes. And unless he got stuck in the fridge- which Deidara wouldn't doubt knowing the amount of sweets the Uchiha ate- he should have been back in less than three minutes.

So now the Iwa bomber was headed for the kitchen, a small frown on his face. He entered the doorway, knowing something was immediately wrong when he saw the lights off. Upon narrowing his visible eye, he noticed the limp figure of the missing Uchiha lying on the floor by the sink, completely unmoving.

Deidara's eyes widened, taking a step forward. "Ita…chi…?"

"Oh don't worry, I just gave him a little shot," Sasori said from beside him.

Deidara shrieked, jumping far into the other side of the kitchen. "What the- HOW DID YOU GET IN HERE!" he screamed with a hand over his heart.

The redhead smirked. "Through the front door."

"You know what I mean," Deidara muttered.

"Hey Sasori- where'd you put the gumballs?" Pein asked from where he knelt at the table, icing a cake with a flat spatula.

Deidara felt another panic attack come on. "WHEN DID YOU GET THERE?"

Pein looked up with a broad grin. "Since last night."

"WHAT?"

Sasori irritably cleaned out an ear. "Not so loud brat."

"You should really wake up Itachi," Kisame said from where he was raiding the fridge, stepping out with several water bottles in hand.

Deidara was too startled at this point to even scream again. Instead he merely stared.

And stared hard.

"Oh God- you guys scared the crap outta him," a voice grouched from behind him.

Deidara slowly looked over his shoulder, recognizing the masked nin from the Chuunin Exams as well. "Kakuzu un?"

"That's me kid," Kakuzu muttered. He walked past the blonde, sitting next to Pein before shoving the teen's head in the cake he was decorating with flowers.

"Waah! My eyes!"

Deidara brought a hand to his brow, rubbing it tiredly. "Okay you guys… what are you doing here? And why?"

The group of four exchanged a glance before looking at him.

"We know where Itachi's parents are," Sasori spoke up.

"But they're in kind of a pinch," Kisame mumbled.

Deidara blinked in surprise. "Itachi's…parents? Oh my Kami un. I'm gonna wake him up."

"Good idea," Sasori murmured. "He's going to want to hear this."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: What's this? Sudden plot change? **

**Kidding. I'm not jumping the gun anytime soon so you guys can relax :)**

**But seriously- what's going on?**


	3. Week of Finding

**A/N: Sorry for the slow update. Things should be a bit faster before school starts though. Here's a long chapter for you. I hope it's not too long though :P**

**Thank you for the reviews and reading this so far!**

**Okay, Warning: Language, violence, OOC, etc...**

**Enjoy and know that most things in this story will not make sense. **

**^v^**

* * *

><p>Itachi was not pleased to be woken up by a kick to the head and wet loogie. Nor was he pleased to know that he had been caught off guard and stabbed with a needle in his own kitchen. His mood was already in a deep decline and only grew worse when he blearily sat up from the kitchen floor to see Deidara staring at him and four familiar faces gathered at his table eating the remains of a cake.<p>

"They say they know where your parents are yeah," Deidara's voice snapped him out of his sleepy state.

"What?" Itachi was now attentive.

Deidara beckoned at him with a hand, moving towards the table. "Come on un. I'm sure they'll explain."

Itachi followed him, sending Sasori half a glare for the serum he injected into him.

Sasori merely smirked.

Deidara and Itachi knelt beside each other at the table. The other four now dressed in plain black cloaks sat across from them.

"It's been two years since we last saw each other, hasn't it?" Pein asked with a grin. "You guys look a bit stronger."

"I wish I could say the same for you," Itachi muttered.

Deidara whacked him over the head. "You have no manners un."

Itachi thought about hitting him back but decided against it. There were a few things he needed to know. Like why these guys were in his house and knew about his parents. "I don't mean to sound rude or anything," he started to say. "But how the hell did you get in here and why are you here?"

Kakuzu rested his chin in his palm, staring at him. "We just walked into the village- the guys at the gate knew us from the Chuunin Exams and didn't bother to stop us," he said. "

"As for how we got in here..." Kisame scratched the side of his cheek. "That cousin of yours, Seeweed or something, gave us the house key."

Itachi slammed his head onto the table. _Damn him!_

"You know you lose brain cells every time you hit your head," Deidara informed him. "Good thing you don't have any un!"

Itachi reached up and smashed the blonde's head onto the table, a vein throbbing. "Really now?"

"You two are getting along as always," Sasori commented with a smug look. "You don't look older at all. I think the only thing's that changed is your height."

"Well you don't look like you've grown at all," Deidara said, rubbing the red mark on his forehead.

"Still think art's a bang like a foolish child?" Sasori shot at him as soon as the Iwa nin glanced up.

"Still an old man trapped in a kid's body un?" Deidara shot back.

Kisame and Kakuzu snickered to themselves, earning a glare from their redhead teammate.

Deidara blinked. "Did I miss something hmm?"

Kisame grinned. "Don't worry about it kiddo."

"Enough small talk," Itachi said, sighing heavily. "If one of you would be so kind as to explain _how _you know where my parents are..."

Sasori and the others exchanged a glance. "Well...that's-"

"I'll tell him!" Pein cut the redhead off, shooting a hand into the air.

Sasori popped a vein, kicking the teen in the face. "Don't interrupt me you brat!"

"Itai!"

Deidara looked at Kisame with a questioning expression. "What's with the matching outfits?"

Kisame spared Pein, who was currently being swung around by one foot by Sasori, a glance. "He was inspired by those guys in the genjutsu we fought against during the Exams. He handmade them."

Deidara scruntinized the sewing job with a narrowed eye. "Not bad..."

"He learned from me," Kakuzu interjected.

Itachi sat in the middle of their conversation and shouting, brow twitching. He asked a simple question and it led to such a big distraction. _That's it! We're doing elementary questions from here on out. _

"You're skilled Kakuzu un," Deidara praised the older man.

"Well at least _someone _appreciates my skill," Kakuzu said.

By then, Sasori and Pein had recollected themselves enough to face Itachi again. "We can answer you now," Sasori said.

"Good..." Itachi slowly said.

"Are you okay?" Kisame asked with a raised brow.

Itachi looked at him. "Peachy."

"Well okay then." Sasori gave him a weird look and then motioned to his 'leader'. "Pein will gladly explain."

"We were scouting the are and- and I can't take it anymore!" Pein jumped to his feet, practically running behind Deidara and seizing a large amount of his hair in his hands. "I have to do something about this! You've grown so you need a new style!"

Deidara rolled his eyes up to look at the orange-haired teen. "Does it really bother you?"

"Yes, yes! Just sit here and let me take care of this," Pein resolutely said, pulling a ribbon from inside his cloak.

"We were scouting the surrounding lands for a place to live when we found a piece of tattered clothing. It was a shirt with your fan on it. At first we thought it was you in the area. But when we later investigated, we saw some creep covered in black sending a message out towards Konoha." Pein skillfully weaved the ribbon into the top part of Deidara's hair as he spoke.

"So you decided to take down a messenger bird with a message that had _nothing _to do with you?" Itachi said in disbelief. _Screw elementary questions! What is WRONG with these people?_

"It was bothering Kisame," Pein simply said. "Anyhow, we tried to read the message. But it's coded so we couldn't understand it. However, there was a sheet with symbols for deciphering the documents packed along with it. I'm sure if you read through it you'll find something out about your parents. Since the Uchiha crest and name of your parents were on there and everything. It was the only thing we understood."

Itachi stared. "How did you learn these things?"

"Deidara tells us some interesting things in his letters," Pein said, patting the top of Deidara's head. "All done. How does it look guys?" he asked his friends on the other side of the table.

Kisame flashed a thumbs up.

"I'm trying to figure out why you walk around with a brush and ribbons," Kakuzu said wide-eyed.

"Great. Now he looks even spunkier," Sasori drawled, smirking. "Like an overgrown brat."

Deidara stuck his tongue out. "I'll take that as a compliment yeah."

Pein wistfully sighed, shaking his head. "I should have become a hairdresser. It was my first choice of occupation you know," he said.

Deidara tugged at his ponytail, smiling. "Thanks un. It was beginning to get in the way."

"No problem." Pein grinned, reaching for the fifteen year old beside the blonde. "Oh Itachi~!"

Itachi gave him a dark glare. "Don't even think about it."

Pein shrugged. "Your loss."

"Something's wrong with you," Kakuzu mumbled at their so-called leader.

"Itachi, take good care of those letters," Kisame said, pushing to his feet the same time Kakuzu did. "It was really hard to get our hands on that. The messenger bird carrying it was flying _everywhere_. It almost poked my eye out..."

"And why didn't you guys decode these important papers first?" Itachi asked, looking at the taller man.

"Because it's not our parents that are missing," Kisame said with a toothy grin.

"That and we don't feel like doing all that translating," Sasori muttered. He stood along with the other three.

"We've been here long enough," Kakuzu grouched, checking an imaginary watch.

Pein nodded, looking at those in his club. "That's right. Itachi-" he looked at the raven. "Do your best. We'll see each other again soon enough."

"I would hope not," Itachi uttered under breath.

Sasori, Kisame, and Kakuzu disappeared within the next second, seeming anxious to get back to where they had come from.

Deidara raised a brow. "Why are they in such a rush?" he asked Pein.

"They just wanna call dibs on the rooms in the new base I found yesterday," Pein told him.

"New base?" Itachi questioned.

Pein nodded. "Yup! We gave up on treehouses completely after people kept cutting it down. This time it's a giant boulder. People can't cut through boulders with a handsaw!"

Itachi and Deidara deadpanned. _How is that any better than a tree...?_

"Take care of yourselves~!" Pein called with a grin as he vanished.

Itachi stared at the spot the orange-haired teen was just at and then looked down at the papers in front of him. "This will tell me where my parents are...?"

Deidara glanced at him, hiding a frown. "Yeah un. Shouldn't you be happy?"

Itachi looked at him and then snorted, getting up and taking the papers with him as he started to leave the kitchen. "Not if you aren't, baka."

Deidara blinked and then looked down, eyes shadowed. "Just do what you need to."

Itachi paused in the doorway, keeping his back turned. "I intend to."

"If...you do that...things won't be the same afterwards. You know that, right un?"

"...I know."

And then Itachi exited, heading for his bedroom. He had work to do.

* * *

><p><strong>Day One: Matter of Friendship <em>(its what any caring friend would do)<em>**

Sasuke and Naruto laughed, splashing each other in their front yard with sprinklers and water guns as they raced through the grass. Although summer was coming to an end, it was still incredibly hot out, and the two boys found it fit to get as cool as possible after Academy classes let out.

More towards the side of the main household were Deidara and Itachi. The latter had taken the news about his missing parents pretty hard and had been holed up in his room all day until Deidara had Shisui come and lay next to him in his futon.

That seemed to get the brooding Uchiha up and out of the house.

Now they were tending to the garden and bushes- since Shisui was unable to after the condition Itachi put him in after the momentary room scare.

Itachi stood several feet away from Deidara, using a watering can to sprinkle the bushes. After all, he wouldn't want to damage the plants. They were creating oxygen for him after all. _Or is that trees? Oh great. Now this is going to bug me…_

Deidara was watering the bushes too.

With a fire hose.

Itachi just chose to ignore him for his poor sanity's sake.

The blonde kept a careful watch over the older raven lest he suddenly snap from the pressure of the Akatsuki's expectations. Even he would have some trouble being forced to keep a secret from everyone when it concerned his parents. Then again…he didn't really take too kindly to his parents…so relating was kind of difficult.

Itachi was deep in thought, his stream of conscious moving from trees and bushes to wondering what could have possibly happened to his parents. _And if it was serious enough that even Pein and his group came down… Just what is going on? _He stopped watering the bush he had been drowning with water for the last few minutes.

Deidara frowned.

And then blasted him with the fire hose.

Itachi sputtered from where he had been shot up against the wall. "What the hell was that for?"

Deidara smirked. "Oh no reason. Just thought it might be fun un."

Itachi's eye twitched as he stalked towards the blonde. "I'll show _you _fun, annoying little-"

Deidara just blasted him again before dropping the hose and running off laughing through the dirt roads of the Uchiha Compound.

Itachi gave chase, all thoughts and worries gone for the time being.

They were now replaced with the mantra of- _Kill Deidara, kill Deidara, kill Deidara… _

And Deidara wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

><p><strong>Day Two: Games <em>(everyone loves games!)<em>**

"Itachi?"

"..."

"_Itachi?_"

"Go away Deidara."

"Hey Itachi."

"Go away!"

"You're going to get old if you keep sitting in the same spot Itachi!"

"Get out of my room _brat_."

"This is my room too_ ugly_."

"Nice insult," Itachi sarcastically drawled, taking his glasses off the bridge of his nose and setting them on his desk. "Why are you bothering me?"

Deidara stared at him all full of smiles and shit, rocking back on his heels like a mischievous Sasuke would. "Sasu-kun and Naru-chan are at the Academy and there's nothing to do. You didn't look busy, so I figured you could keep me company un."

"Didn't look…" Itachi shut his eyes, raising a clenched fist. "I've been working here all morning long!"

"On what un?"

"None of your business."

"Oh real mature meany head."

"Because _that_ was just as mature baka," Itachi muttered at him. "Look, I'm just trying to decipher these codes that tou-san sent, and I'd appreciate it if you left me alone for a while."

The younger blonde innocently blinked. "But I don't want to leave you alone."

Itachi felt a vein pop, turning back around to glare holes into his desk and the papers that lay scattered across it. "Just leave."

"No."

Itachi gripped his writing pencil very tightly. "Leave."

"No hmm."

"I said leave moron!"

"Never!" Deidara happily cheered.

"…"

"…"

"Hey Deidara, wanna play a game?" Itachi asked, never once looking at the bomber.

Deidara nodded. "Yeah! I love games! What is it un?"

Itachi felt an eye twitch. "It's called the SHUT THE HELL UP AND GO AWAY GAME!" he roared.

Deidara laughed, smacking him over the head before beginning to skip out the door. "Boy do I love pissing you off."

The pencil in Itachi's hands snapped in half.

* * *

><p><strong>Day Three: Dysfunctional Brothers <em>(there shouldn't even be a need to explain this…)<em>**

The four that were a part of the Uchiha main household were an interesting bunch.

They fought and they argued and they pulled pranks that would have otherwise killed them had it not been for their wonderful shinobi reflexes. They'd been together for three years- and while they had their rough patches- they could never _truly _stay angry at one another.

So it was like this that Itachi was proud to say his younger siblings liked to stick up for one another.

Or rather…

The three of them just liked to gang up on him.

Itachi popped a vein as he swung upside down from the roof of the main household. "You idiots let me down right now!" he shouted.

Sasuke giggled. "You're a ninja nii-san."

"Yeah," Naruto guffawed. "Get out yourself!"

Itachi's eyes turned crimson.

Deidara smirked, patting the two kids on the head. "Uh-oh un. The beast is awakening," he mocked.

All three of them laughed merrily among themselves.

Until Itachi cut himself loose and went after them.

"YOU MORONS ARE DEAD!"

Sasuke's eyes widened. "We're gonna die!"

Naruto pumped a fist into the air. "Awesome!"

Deidara pushed Naruto and Sasuke ahead of him, cupping his hands around his mouth as he ran. "ITACHI'S ON THE RUN! UCHIHA'S UNITE UN!"

Itachi paused in his tracks.

And then let his eyes bug out as all of his relatives came swarming out of their houses to mob him.

"Dammit- not again!"

* * *

><p><strong>Day Four: Reminiscing <em>(a calm day...)<em>**

Itachi sat on the living room sofa, looking through a photo album he had found under his bed. There were a few other things under there, living and dead, but he didn't really want to think about that at the moment.

Now he sat relaxing, making snide comments in his head or smirking when he saw a picture with a particularly funny memory.

"Aww, I didn't know you still kept these pictures!" a voice cooed from behind him.

Itachi ground his teeth together at the chakra signature. "What are you doing?"

"I got bored and wanted to see you," his older cousin said. "Plus Deidara was complaining about you lounging around doing nothing. I guess he was right."

"Where is that moron anyway?" Itachi questioned. "I haven't seen him all day."

"Running from Kakashi." Shisui leaned over his shoulder, smiling broadly.

"By the way..." Itachi's eye twitched, moving his head away. "How did you get in here?"

Shisui's smile grew. "Well-!"

"Nevermind," Itachi muttered, turning back to the album in his lap. It was a picture of him as a three year old, trying to kill a five year old Shisui with his first kunai. He smiled. "Good times…"

Shisui plopped down next to him, looking at the picture with a raised brow. "Good times for _you _maybe," he said, sweatdropping.

* * *

><p><strong>Day Five: Solo Task <em>(sometimes...)<em>**

Itachi stood in the Hokage's office by himself. Naruto and Sasuke were off at the Academy learning more ways they could possibly endanger the world and Deidara was helping Shisui in his garden. Why? He didn't know. But he said _nothing _when the Iwa nin took their fire hose with him.

The Third Hokage looked at the fifteen year old raven from behind his desk, smoking calmly on his pipe. "I called you here for a mission," he said.

_No shit. _Itachi politely nodded.

"It's really easy and I thought you'd be able to take care of it without the help of your talented cousin turned brother," Hiruzen happily said. "Deidara's such a good kid!"

Itachi inwardly rolled his eyes. "Of course. The mission Hokage-sama?"

"I remember when I used to farm," Hiruzen started to say. "We used rakes and machine guns and all sorts of weird thingy-ma-bobbers. But we planted our crops good. They were the best in the land. People from everywhere came over and bought our food and then ate it. It was a great business. We became rich. Now naturally this was a dream. Because I'm running a village and there are no farms around. But it was a nice dream." The Third Hokage grinned. "And my _ducky _was there! Isn't that great?"

"…"

"…"

"What…does that have to do with _anything?_" Itachi slowly asked, an eye twitching.

The Third Hokage grinned at him. "Nothing! Now get to your mission sonny!"

"You didn't tell me what my mission was," Itachi muttered.

"You're going trash picking in the river!" Hiruzen cheered. "Don't drown!"

"A severe storm is supposed to come in tonight," Itachi told him, hoping that he had just heard wrong and the Hokage was pulling him leg.

"Are you telling me that the pollution of this world doesn't concern you?" The Third Hokage exclaimed. "I'm appalled Idachi!"

"That's not my name."

"What?"

"Nothing...Hokage-sama," Itachi said, vein throbbing.

"Good! Then hurry up!"

Itachi left the office with a very big thundercloud over his head.

~X~

It was still there six minutes later when he entered his house to pack.

Where he was greeted by a blonde in a rubber suit.

"What are you wearing?" Itachi questioned, an eyebrow twitching.

"That cloud above you is starting a lightning storm un," Deidara told him.

Itachi shielded his face with a hand, beginning to walk past the Iwa nin. "Great. Now I'm even _more _scarred for life. Take that thing off will you?"

"But then I'd be naked. Today was commando day hmm."

The oldest Uchiha violently twitched.

Deidara grinned, opening an umbrella as he walked beside the moody fifteen year old raven. "Nice weather huh?" he asked.

Itachi scowled before promptly drop-kicking the laughing blonde.

He was soon mauled by two wild kids afterwards.

"Leave Deidara-nii alone!" Naruto cried as he charged out of nowhere, tackling the older teen to the ground.

"Yeah! You're so horrible nii-san!" Sasuke shouted, stomping on his brother's stomach.

Itachi felt a vein pop. "GET THE HELL OFF OF ME!"

Deidara started to walk away, umbrella still open and a large smile on his face. "Well- see you later Itachi-kun. Have a nice time on your mission un~!"

"You can't just leave me here!" Itachi shouted after him as Naruto began gnawing on his arm. _Oh my God- rabies! _

* * *

><p><strong>Day Six: Once Upon A Time <em>(bedtime stories are fun!)<em>**

It was storming violently outside. The streets of Konoha were whipped up in a typhoon, harsh rainwater pounding mercilessly against the glass windows and doors of buildings and homes.

The front door to the Uchiha main household slammed open, a dark figure covered in mud and grime with twigs and leaves stuck in his hair standing in the doorway. Lightning flashed and the figure was revealed to have long dark hair covering his face. A red glow seemed to be coming from underneath. They took one step inside the house, killer intent rising off their body.

"Hooray! Itachi-nii's back!"

Itachi flipped his hair over his head, leaving him with a very long slicked back hairstyle. He deactivated his Sharingan and glared as his younger brother's best friend ran up to him, clad in warm pajamas and a large grin. The blonde skidded to a halt in front of him, eagerly bouncing on his toes with the faint hint of hot chocolate smudged on the corner of his lips. Now he hated Naruto more than ever before.

That...and he was still angry at him for the large bite marks in his arm.

"Hi Itachi-nii!"

"Hello..." the raven grit out. There was water in his pants. And it was highly uncomfortable. _If I don't change out of these things _right _now I'm gonna-_

"Me and Sasuke were waiting for you so you could tell a bedtime story," Naruto excitedly said.

Itachi stared. "You mean 'Sasuke and I'."

"..." Naruto blinked. "What?"

"Nevermind." Itachi sighed heavily, rubbing his brow. "Look- I just got back from a mission Naruto-no-baka. I really don't feel like telling you anything at all."

Naruto pouted, crossing his arms. "But you have to Itachi-nii! We can't go asleep 'til we hear a story!"

Itachi felt a vein pop. "Then tell one to yourself!"

Naruto took in a deep breath, glaring angrily. "If you don't come then I'm gonna get Hiruzen on your case!"

Itachi stared. "You wouldn't."

"Try me."

"…"

"…"

Itachi smacked a palm to his head, leaving a big red mark to match along with his throbbing vein. "I can't believe Deidara's influenced you so far…"

Naruto grinned, grabbing him by the hand and beginning to drag him towards the room he shared with Sasuke. "Deidara-nii is great!"

_Maybe to you… _Itachi gruffly thought. But he allowed himself to be pushed into the children's bedroom anyway.

And then came to a screeching halt in the doorway, brow quirking.

Naruto ran to his shared bed and waved him over as he snuggled beneath the sheets. "Hurry up!"

Sasuke expectantly looked at him. "I hope you've got a good story nii-san."

"Yeah, me too un," Deidara said.

Itachi popped a vein. "What the hell are you doing!" he roared.

Deidara grinned from where he was tucked in between Naruto and Sasuke. "I'm waiting for a bedtime story. _Duh_."

"Yeah nii-san," Sasuke chimed. "_Duh_."

_"Duh_," Naruto added.

Itachi sat on the very edge of the bed, aware of the three pairs of eyes boring holes into his head. He reluctantly turned to look at them. "I'm only going to tell you one. And it'll be short so don't bother me for anymore," he warned.

The three younger boys clapped.

"Don't do that!" Itachi shouted. "Kami-sama!"

"Someone got angry," Naruto loudly whispered to Deidara and Sasuke. They nodded in response.

Itachi exhaled heavily, choosing to ignore them. "Okay. Once upon a time there was a boy-"

"This sounds like a good one!" Deidara sarcastically cheered.

Itachi glared at him. "There was a boy named...Evan. Evan was an innocent boy with everything he could ever wish for-"

"What a brat," Deidara snickered.

Itachi threw a pillow at him. "Shut up! Anyway, Evan was very pleased with what he had made of his life. But then everything changed."

"_Ooh_, cliffhanger," Deidara eagerly said. Sasuke and Naruto 'oohhhed' along with him.

"Will you quit interrupting me!" Itachi yelled in his direction, vein throbbing.

They laughed to themselves.

"Evan's parents went off and had a baby. That baby grew up to somehow have friends- a particularly crazy friend who managed to get all three of them in stupid situations. Evan's sanity was on the brink of leaving. And just when Evan thought he'd go completely mad- his little brother brought in some random stranger to make his life a 'living hell'."

"This sounds really familiar," Naruto mumbled.

"Yeah. I can't place it though," Sasuke mumbled back.

Itachi felt an eyebrow twitch. _Are they serious...?_

Deidara just there grinning.

"True to his word, the three of them soon took it upon themselves to annoy the living crap out of Evan," Itachi slowly continued. "They got good, honest, Evan into sticky problems that followed him everywhere. A long time passed and for some odd reason, Evan's parents didn't show. He was stuck in his house surrounded by people off their rockers. Evan was miserable with his life until a mission came up for the two of them to go save Evan's parents," Itachi ominously said.

"Hmm. I don't think I like this story," Sasuke suddenly said.

Itachi blinked, looking at the group of three who were frowning in his direction. "Well why not?"

"Because you make it seem as if the main character gets picked on all the time," Deidara wisely said, although the smirk could be heard in his voice. "He should man up and fight back un."

Itachi's eye twitched. "Oh he would if he was able to..." _Unfortunately, having half the village and the Hokage against you makes it kind of difficult. _

_"Fine_," Naruto huffed. "Go on. I wanna hear what happens next."

Itachi resisted the urge to strangle the blonde, gritting out the next few sentences of his story. "Evan and his annoying friend went up against the evil overlord where they learned to get over their differences and work together. The overlord got his ass kicked, the annoying friend died somewhere along the fight, and the parents were released from their makeshift paradise jutsu."

Deidara raised a hand. "Question!"

"What. Do. You. Want?" Itachi growled.

Deidara rolled his eyes. "How come the friend has to die un? Why not this 'Evan' guy?"

"Yeah, yeah," Sasuke and Naruto agreed.

Itachi felt several tic marks pop onto the back of his head. "Because Evan is the main character. Now shut up and let me finish!"

"What_ever_," all three sneered.

_Dear Kami- Deidara's influenced them both... _Itachi hopelessly thought.

"Happy to be saved, the parents forgot about all the trouble that had been caused by the annoying friend and psychopathic villagers and came back home pleased with their son. Everyone in the village soon become his personal servants, going to do his bidding like the dictator he had become. And after that, Evan got his happiness back and they all lived happily ever after like in every fairy tale," Itachi muttered. "The end."

He looked up when no smart comments or laughs were made, immediately raising a brow.

All three of them had fallen asleep, snuggled up against one another with the sounds of their soft breathing filling the air.

Itachi sighed before standing and turning the lights out. He closed the door quietly behind him and then went to take a much needed shower.

_If I get sick from being in water-clogged clothes for over three hours, I am _so _blaming those idiots..._

There was a collective sneeze from behind a closed door.

Itachi smiled.

* * *

><p><strong>Day Seven: Discovery <em>(how did he not realize this?)<em>**

Itachi had been decoding the parchment Pein had given him all day. Over the week he had managed to understand tidbits of it, but now he had come to the last page and was almot eagerly flying through it. Once he got the hang of translating the weird symbols, everything became so much easier to rewrite in _his _native language.

He wasn't alone in his room as he worked at his desk though. Naruto and Sasuke were working on Academy homework and helping each other out on the floor behind him while Deidara sat cross-legged on his futon reading through an Uchiha scroll.

Although Itachi gave him clear intructions _not _to try out any of the jutsus inside.

They couldn't afford to pay for the expenses.

"What's for dinner?" Naruto randomly asked to break the silence that had been hanging over the group. Anything was better than focusing on mathematical equations.

Sasuke hummed, idly doodling on his worksheet. "I want something sweet."

Deidara looked at them. "You can't just eat desserts. Although... I wouldn't mind it. But Ita-kun over here would throw a fit yeah."

"Maybe Itachi-nii should get the food then," Naruto suggested.

"Don't even think about sending me out again," Itachi muttered, working on the last line. His pencil flew across the sheet of paper.

"Wouldn't dream about it," Deidara snickered. He turned his attention back to the two kids on the ground. "I dunno guys. It depends on what mood you're in un. But please Naru-chan. We are not getting ramen again."

"Why not?" Naruto innocently blinked. "We've only had it for the past week."

"That's exactly it," Deidara sweatdropped.

"Huh?"

Sasuke smacked his friend over the head. "That's every day except for today."

"Ow! You jerk!" Naruto cried.

"Don't start fighting," Deidara said.

"But Sasuke started it first!"

"I did not!"

Itachi laid down his pencil with a light sigh, ignoring the bickering in the background. He finished decoding in a week. Not a bad job if he did say so himself. And now to re-read all that he translated...

"So seriously- what are we gonna eat?"

"Stop repeating yourself Naru-chan," Sasuke chided.

"We don't have a lot of money anyway hmm."

Sasuke looked at the blonde bomber. "We could ask Shisui to lend us."

Deidara waved a hand. "Nah. I pickpocketed him yesterday."

"Shouldn't you have the money then?" Naruto curiously asked.

"I lost it un."

"Oh."

Ten minutes later Itachi got to the most recently finished sheet with the three in the back still discussing dinner and who to put the responsibility on.

He stared at the last page of the document.

And stared.

And stared.

And then it clicked in his brain.

"What...in the world...IS THIS?" he exclaimed.

Deidara looked over in surprise. "What is it? What's the matter un?"

Itachi leaned back, eyes wide. "I know where my parents are."

Sasuke and Naruto exchanged a glance. "Tou-san and kaa-san?" they asked in unison.

Itachi felt an eye start to twitch, a dark aura rising off his body. "Yeah…and a certain _someone _knows _exactly _where they have been for these past few years…"

~X~

Shisui stared at the two teens glaring at him before sheepishly laughing and scratching the back of his neck. "Ahahaha….what brings you two to my humble abode?"

Itachi popped a vein, grabbing his older cousin by the ear. "Don't play dumb!" he shouted.

Deidara popped a vein too, but only because Itachi had stepped on his foot. He shoved the fifteen year old raven off of him and into Shisui's flower garden. "Get the hell of un!"

Itachi shot him a poor look. "You're lucky we have important business to take care of or else you'd already be six feet under," he muttered, stomping back on the front porch.

"Whatever _Itachi_," Deidara sneered. He then turned his attention to Shisui. "You have some explaining to do, don't you think un?"

"That's _my _line!" Itachi exclaimed, drop-kicking the blonde.

Shisui sweatdropped, stepping back in his doorway. "Um…why don't you guys just come on inside and keep the fighting to a minimum?"

They huffed. "_Fine!_"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Surprise! Sort of... -_-u**

**I believe the story will take a plot soon. Actually, I'm pretty sure its already had a plot since the first chapter :P**

**Next chapter out soon **

**:]**


	4. The Week of Dispute

**A/N: After this chapter the story will revert into a regular one chapter one, just like 'Week One'. But before doing that, here's a long chapter to make up for the chapters that will most likely be shorter afterwards. Oh yeah... **

**I intend on building up all the drama I need... AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! **

**O-kay, now that _that's _done, we can get on with the story. Your support is loved~**

**Warning: Language, OOC, drama, slight violence, etc, etc...**

* * *

><p>"What...did you just say?"<p>

Shisui let out a sigh, folding his arms on the table in front of him. "I said that your parents have been held captive for the past two years by one of Deidara's bounty hunters."

"And _why_...would Deidara-no-baka have a bounty hunter after him?" Itachi slowly questioned, casting the thirteen year old blonde a glance.

Deidara suddenly looked very uncomfortable in the tiny room, shifting on his knees.

The three shinobi were gathered in Shisui's cluttered living room, sitting on the ground at a coffee table. The oldest Uchiha was on one side, and Itachi and Deidara were on the other, kneeling next one another. The situation reminded both younger teens of their meeting with Pein the week before, but neither commented. There seemed to be far more important matters to deal with.

Shisui scratched the side of his cheek, looking at Deidara. "You never told him, did you?"

Deidara's answer was to glare in his direction.

Shisui smacked a palm to his forehead. "Kami-sama you didn't."

Itachi looked in between them, frustration beginning to form on his face. "What are you two talking about? What does Deidara have to do with my parents?"

"Right." Shisui stared at the Iwa nin. "Should I tell him, or should you?"

Deidara said nothing.

"Fine then..." Shisui turned his gaze onto his younger cousin, coughing lightly in the back of his throat. "Itachi...I don't know how to break it to you easily but- Deidara's a terrorist that ran away from his village more than five years ago after blowing part of it up. He's got a pretty hefty bounty on his head for that so there are actually quite a lot of people after him."

"I'm sorry," Itachi politely said. "Could you repeat that last bit?"

Shisui raised a brow. "The part about Deidara being a terrorist or the blowing up the village section?"

"..."

"Judging from the silence, I'd say you had no idea about any of this," Shisui idly commented.

Itachi stared at him for a while and then looked at Deidara. "You're a missing nin? A _terrorist _missing nin?"

Deidara fidgeted. "Um...yeah?"

"And how come you know about this Shisui and I don't?" Itachi inquired, his dark eyes flashing as he turned his gaze onto his cousin.

Shisui gave a short nod of his head. "Well that's because I found out about it on my own. Deidara never actually told me anything. Let's see... I was trying to break into your house about three weeks ago, and I noticed some oddly cloaked guy on top your roof. It wasn't Kakashi because he was still recovering from that pole you hung him from the day before, and there's no one else I know who would think of trying to kill you guys. I don't know why you didn't notice him- he was covered in a really bad genjutsu..."

"Are you _going _somewhere with this?" Itachi snapped.

Shisui held up his arms. "Relax! Anyway, he left shortly after I kicked him off the roof and beat him up. Apparently he was writing a message of some sorts after watching your movements and was going to send it off somewhere. A bounty hunter by the name of Toshiaki Kaeru was supposed to receive the message apparently. That's what the guy I captured said anyway."

Deidara visibly stiffened at the bounty hunter's name. "Toshiaki...?"

"You know him?" Itachi gave him a hard look.

"Well un..." Deidara looked away. "Before I left Iwa, he was one of the Academy's teachers. And he wanted me to blow up the school with everyone inside."

"Why would he want to do that?" Itachi asked in disbelief.

"How should I know?" Deidara narrowed his visible eye. "The guy was off his damn rocker! Anyway, I told him no, and then he went berserk and tried to kill me. I took off one of his arms and an eye before he ran off."

"That _might _explain why the letter I intercepted said he wanted to tear you limb from limb and set you on fire," Shisui mused.

"Why do you sound so goddamn cheery about it un?" Deidara muttered.

Shisui waved the blonde's aggravation off, instead looking at Itachi to continue telling him his findings. "Okay, so I placed the guy on your roof under a genjutsu and had him send out letters regularly to this Toshiaki Kaeru- that way I could figure out the bounty hunter's aim. It looks like he found out Deidara had come to Konohagakure quite some time ago and dispatched a bunch of his followers throughout the Uchiha Compound to keep an eye on him. And then he heard about your parents missing and went out on a hunt for them in an attempt to draw Deidara out."

Deidara seemed to be thinking things through in his head. "So he captured parents that weren't even _mine_, watched my movements practically every _day_, and I never realized this? He's out on a revenge spree for his missing limb, isn't he un?"

"Sounds about right," Shisui said.

"When were they captured?" Itachi asked, also trying to figure out why he hadn't noticed all this going on around him. He would have had to be distracted heavily every day for hours on end-

He stopped his train of thought on one word.

_Deidara._

Itachi's eyes turned to slits.

"I'd say your parents were taken by this guy about a month after they left for their vacation," Shisui told him, seemingly oblivious to the change in his cousin's mood. "The intended time for them to get back was the next day. But they probably ran into Deidara's hunter and...well you know the rest."

Itachi frowned. "My parents are perfectly capable of fending off one man."

"Not when they're drunk off of tequilas and wearing beach hats," Shisui muttered.

"..." Itachi's frown deepened as he turned to look at the blonde next to him. "What are your intentions?"

"My intentions?" Deidara looked at a loss. "To...settle down somewhere...?"

"You're lying." Itachi stood, brushing his pants down before looking at his cousin. "I appreciate the information. I'll be going home now."

"Wait a second," Shisui said, also getting to his feet. "I talked to the Hokage-sama about this in advance and requested a personal mission to go out and retrieve your parents. It's been approved already- and I intend on setting out at the end of this week to search for this bounty hunter. You're already on the roster to go but-" he paused, eyes trailing to the unmoving blonde on the floor. "But it's your decision to make if Deidara tags along. After all, the man is after him."

Deidara snapped his head up to Itachi. "Itachi..."

"..."

"Well?" Shisui prodded.

"...I'll go," Itachi said. "But don't count on this little moron over here to come."

Deidara blinked. "What? But hey-!"

Itachi gave him a cold look and then walked away.

Deidara watched Itachi leave the house before casting Shisui a worried look and running after the fifteen year old raven.

Shisui ran a hand through his hair, sighing heavily. "This is not gonna be good..."

~X~

Deidara had finally caught up to Itachi by the time they entered the main Uchiha household, and now he was running behind him in an attempt to get the older teen to stop. "Will you stop walking away for a minute un!"

"Why should I?"

"At least give me a chance to explain-" Deidara said, almost ramming into the raven's back as he came to an abrupt halt.

"There's nothing to explain," Itachi coldly said, turning around to face him.

"I have plenty to tell you though hmm!"

"You're a nukenin who has been living in the same house as me for the past three years," Itachi said, his expression blank. "And now a bounty hunter is after your head and has kidnapped my parents as some sort of ransom."

"It's not my fault un," Deidara insisted, holding out his arms. "I didn't know he would chase me all the way out here. And I didn't know he had spies planted throughout the area. He was really a weak guy when I left him back in Iwa yeah! And it wasn't like you or anyone else noticed the guy in the village either! Only Shisui did!"

Itachi brought a hand to his face in anger. "You've been walking around like a magnet for trouble this entire time and you're telling me you didn't realize it even _once_?"

"_No_." The blonde looked annoyed. "You can't just put all the blame on me un. You're the one that _insisted _I join your family. You should have made me tell you about my past before doing something so stupid!"

"Well forgive me for trying to help you out!" Itachi yelled at him. "You don't deserve to be an Uchiha!"

Deidara ripped his shirt over his head before pegging it at Itachi's face. "Then take your stupid clan symbol back!"

"Cut it out!" Itachi tore the thrown shirt off his head, throwing it to the floor in between them. "Don't get angry just because I found something out about you that you should have told me to begin with!"

"I didn't want you to know because I knew you'd act like this!" Deidara shouted at him, visible blue eye flashing. "Am I not allowed to keep personal secrets now hmm?"

"Not when it involves my parents!" Itachi shouted back. "Kami- didn't you think of the consequences? You're a _missing nin _for Kami's sake! And you've been hiding out in _my _house pretending to be someone you're not! You brought all the trouble from your old village into Konoha! You could have endangered any one of us- but all you care about is keeping yourself safe?"

Deidara glowered, lips tightly pressed together. "That is _not _all I care about," he ground out. "And if you paid any attention at all to the things that went on around you, you would have realized that a long time ago un."

"I paid perfect attention to the things around me," Itachi snapped. "Oh- I'm sorry, did you want me to find out you were a terrorist bomber and turn you into the Hokage? You were playing all of us from the very beginning, weren't you? Just so you and your bounty hunter buddy could make money off of the _prestigious _Uchiha Clan!"

"You think I did all of this on _purpose_?" Deidara openly gaped at him.

Itachi glared. "Do you have anything to prove me otherwise?"

Deidara seized him by the front of his shirt, snarling fiercely. "You are a blind idiot Itachi. A bloody blind idiot."

"Get the hell off of me Iwa!" Itachi exclaimed, grasping the blonde's forearms in an attempt to shove him away.

"Not until you hear what I have to say Uchiha!"

"I don't _want _to hear you so shut up already!"

"Why don't you make me!"

Sasuke came running down the hall within the next moment, eyes wide and Naruto beside him.

"Stop fighting!" Naruto shouted, running in between them and trying to push them apart.

"I've been trying to change un," Deidara said, digging his nails into Itachi's wrists.

"You haven't changed one bit," Itachi hissed. "I wouldn't be surprised if you were planning to blow this entire village up."

"What was that?" Deidara narrowed his eyes. "You sonuva-"

"BREAK IT UP _NOW_!" Sasuke hollered, fists clenched at his sides.

The two older teens blinked in shock, staring first at each other and then to the two kids watching them.

Sasuke pulled Naruto to his side. "Nii-san..."

"Don't even think about sleeping in _my _room tonight," Itachi muttered, pushing the bomber away from him.

"I _wasn't_," Deidara spat before stomping down the hall.

Naruto started to run after the Iwa nin. "Wait-!"

Sasuke tugged on his friend's arm. "Let's just go to sleep Naru-chan."

"But Sasuke..."

Sasuke gently pushed the protesting Naruto into their shared room, looking over his shoulder to look at Itachi before turning away without a word.

But he didn't need to speak for Itachi to understand.

The glare Sasuke gave him was more than enough.

* * *

><p><strong>Day One: Fork In The Road (<em>in making a decision)<em>**

Itachi woke up the next day, feeling groggy and sick to the stomach. He ran a hand over his face with a groan, wiping the sleep from the corners of his eyes before sitting up and looking around his bedroom.

It was empty just like when he had fallen asleep at three in the morning, waiting for Deidara to come back.

The blonde obviously hadn't- if the perfectly made futon across from him had anything to say.

Itachi grabbed his hair-tie off the dresser beside him, pulling back his hair and stumbling out his bed.

He threw off his clothes and grabbed a towel off the back of his desk chair, wrapping it around his waist before exiting his room. All he needed to do was take a soothing shower to calm his thoughts and overwhelming emotions. Then he could rationally step back and think through what Shisui had told him. He walked down the hall to the bathroom, glancing at his younger brother and best friend's door as he passed.

They hadn't said anything to him after the argument the night before.

_Damn. They probably think this is all my fault... _Itachi thought with an annoyed growl. Well, even if it _was _his fault, it wasn't like he was going to go around and admit it aloud. After all, he wasn't the one who had gotten his parents kidnapped for two years over a seven year grudge some bounty hunter held.

Even so...

It was Deidara's fault more than his own!

Itachi pulled open the bathroom door with unnecessary force, bringing a body along with it.

Deidara, who had been opening the door to leave, stumbled forward with his hand on the knob.

"Deidara?"

Deidara looked up, staring at him with his visible eye wide.

Itachi stared back.

A thick cloud of tension and awkwardness passed between them as Deidara took his hand off the knob and shuffled out the doorway into the hall, a toothbrush and bottle of shampoo in his hand.

Itachi stepped to the side, looking at the half-dressed blonde with a wary expression.

"..."

"..."

Deidara pressed the bottle he had been carrying into the older teen's hand to break the silence. "Here. I ran out of mine so I took yours," he said.

"You used my shampoo without asking me?" Itachi asked, weighing the plastic bottle in his palm.

"I figured...you wouldn't mind," the Iwa nin muttered, looking down.

Itachi frowned. "It's half empty."

"It's just shampoo un!" Deidara suddenly shouted. "Stop jumping on my case!"

Itachi didn't know what happened, but in the next instant, Deidara was sprawled on the ground with a giant handprint on his face.

He had a feeling it was his, judging by the sting on his hand.

"So is that how you solve all your problems?" Deidara scowled, pushing to his feet. "You just hit everyone hmm?"

"Shut up!" Itachi stalked into the bathroom.

Deidara followed him inside. "You can't avoid this situation. Stop pushing me away and let's talk it out!"

"I don't want to talk to you," Itachi snapped, turning on his heel to shove the blonde out the small room. "So get out!"

"Bastard-"

Itachi slammed the door shut, pressing his back against the door as he breathed heavily and closed his eyes. He listened to Deidara hesitate outside and then storm off down the hall, presumably to get changed. _I can't talk to you yet...because I don't know what to do. _With a slight headache, he stepped away from the door and opened his shower curtain.

His eyes bugged out of his face.

Kakashi was sitting in his bathtub. His bathtub filled with bubbles and a battleship which he was currently sinking with a rubber duck.

And he was singing.

"Listen to your heart~ Before, it tears you-"

"Get the hell outta my bathroom!" Itachi yelled, kicking the silver-haired man through the room's tiny window.

He stood seething in the middle of the tiled floors with nothing but a towel around his waist and bottle of used shampoo in his hand.

A vein popped.

There was a draft.

* * *

><p><strong>Day Two: Sasuke and Naruto <em>(they're smarter than they get credit for)<em>**

Naruto and Sasuke were out in the main household's flower garden, planting new seeds so fresh flowers could come in with the changing season. They had been working outside for little more than an hour in order to escape the frequent shouting matches between Deidara and Itachi, finding summer heat to be more welcoming than the burning glares the two older teens were giving one another.

Naruto's thoughts were swirling around in minor turmoil as he dug a tiny hole in the same patch of dirt he had been digging through for the past five minutes. _I wonder what the problem is...? Is it about us? About me? They're never this serious... _He pushed his bottom lip out a bit.

Sasuke was actually thinking of nothing but the necessity to plant good-looking flowers so that they grew up strong and beautifully. _Then I can show Ino just how good I am. Tch. She's always talking about her shop... Well our garden's just as good! _He fiercely grabbed a spare spade by his side. _I'll show her... _he thought, eyes gleaming and large flames rising up behind him.

Suddenly Naruto stopped digging with his miniature spade, rocking back on his haunches with his face scrunched in worry. "I can't take it anymore!" he cried out, startling his best friend.

"What's the matter with you?" Sasuke asked, small brow raised.

Naruto huffily threw his spade down into the pile of dirt he had just dug up, crossing his arms. "Ever since yesterday, all Itachi-nii and Deidara-nii do is give each other the cold shoulder! They ignore us completely and don't even talk at meals!"

Sasuke let out a tiny sigh, setting down his own spade in a more controlled manner. "It's just a fight Naru-chan."

"It doesn't seem like one of their normal fights," Naruto told him. "This one has something more behind it. And they're not telling!"

"Maybe they don't want us to get involved," Sasuke mumbled, picking up a package of daisy seeds they hadn't opened yet.

"I'm lonely though," Naruto whined. "I mean, I like you Sasu-kun, I really do. But I want to hear the voices of my other brothers too."

"They'll be fine."

"The tension between them is horrible!"

"We just need to give them space," Sasuke insisted. "Everything will be okay tomorrow."

Naruto glanced at the Uchiha and then sighed. "If you say so Sasuke..."

Sasuke looked at his shorter friend and then handed him the pack of seeds he had been holding. "Here."

Naruto blinked. "What...are these for?"

"So you can plant them in your head," Sasuke said with a snicker, starting to head inside the house. "Maybe then something will grow inside."

Naruto gaped wordlessly before stomping after the now laughing raven. "Sasuke-teme!"

* * *

><p><strong>Day Three: Friendly Advice <em>(or it was <em>supposed_ to be anyway)_**

"I can arrange for you to be on a long-term mission," The Third Hokage said, smoking his pipe calmly. "Naturally you won't be getting paid since it's not an _actual _mission, but it'll allow you to leave the village without being classified as a missing-nin."

Itachi bowed his head slightly. "Arigatou Hokage-sama."

"No problem Idachi."

"It's Itachi."

"What?"

"Nevermind."

Hiruzen turned from where he stood on the very top of the Hokage Tower, looking at the young raven beside him. "Are you sure this is what you want to do? What does your family think about it?"

"Half of my family is currently being held captive," Itachi murmured, overlooking his village. "I haven't discussed anything with anyone else yet."

He could see the Academy just letting out their students, the kids inside running out laughing and talking with one another. It looked as if Iruka was walking Naruto and Sasuke out again, Deidara and Shisui coming up from the Academy gates to pick them up. Itachi watched as Deidara and Iruka got into a glaring match, Shisui laughing as he shooed the two kids behind him.

The Hokage thoughtfully hummed. "I trust your judgement Idachi."

_At least get my name right, _Itachi thought with a popped vein. "I will take care of this problem as soon as possible."

"Do what you need to sonny."

"...Hai."

The two stood in a silence for several minutes.

Itachi turned to say something else to the Hokage after a moment, finding that the man was nowhere to be seen. He deadpanned. "Where did he go...?"

"Have a nice trip!" Hiruzen cheerfully said from behind him.

Itachi blinked in surprise. "What are you-"

The Hokage pushed him off the top of the building, laughing merrily. "Bye!"

"You crazy old man!" Itachi yelled, though his shouts went unheard as he plummeted towards the ground.

~X~

Five minutes later he found himself covered in dirt, scratches, and in front of the Haruno household.

"I just hope she's in a good mood today," he mumbled, ringing the doorbell.

He didn't have to wait long- the door swinging open less than a minute later to reveal a small pinkette with large green eyes.

"Hi Itachi-san," she greeted.

"Hello Sakura," Itachi said with a strained smile. "Is your mother home?"

Sakura bobbed her head, eyes wide as she ran off inside her house. "Kaa-san!" she called.

"Coming, hold on..." the woman's voice echoed outside.

Itachi shifted uncomfortably. The cut above his left eyebrow was bleeding into his eye.

Then there was a new figure in the doorway, looking at him with twinkling eyes.

Itachi sighed. "Good day Haruno-san..."

Sakura's mom grinned at seeing his state. "Well look what the cat dragged in," she teased. She wore a light blue summer dress that showed off her pale skin and long legs. But Itachi wasn't staring at that.

He was staring at the happy expression on her face. A brow raised. "You look-"

"Don't ruin it boy," Sakura's mom interrupted, still looking pleasant. "Why did you come to my house then? Especially looking like you just fell off a cliff and tussled with a bunch of rabid animals."

"It was the Hokage and Inuzuka Clan coming back from their daily vet check-up," Itachi muttered. If he didn't know any better, he'd say the Hokage planned his fall in accordance to the rabid animals he landed on top of.

"Ah." The woman crossed her arms, leaning in the doorway. "So- spit it out already."

"I'm having..." Itachi averted his gaze, scratching his cheek with a mud-coated finger, "...a bit of a problem. And I don't know how to go about it exactly," he slowly said, making sure not to stumble over his words and say something he didn't mean to let slip.

Sakura's mom stared at him with her bright blue eyes, smiling gently. "Do what you think is right Itachi-kun. No one can help you."

"What!"

"Meaning," she said with a laugh. "That you'll have to make this decision on your own. Don't let others cloud your judgement."

Itachi gave her a dark look. "I don't let others cloud my judgement."

"Not even your siblings?" she innocently questioned.

"...Not even them," Itachi growled, finding himself getting angry in the presence of this beautiful woman who was obviously toying with him.

"Then get some guts and MAN UP!" Sakura's mom roared, kicking him off her doorstep.

Itachi scowled, looking over his shoulder while rubbing his sore backside. "I think she's given me more bruises than help..." he muttered. "But still..." He sighed deeply, turning his gaze to the rapidly darkening sky.

_I've known the answer to this all along, haven't I...?_

* * *

><p><strong>Day Four: Left Behind (<em>fun and games are over)<em>**

"Itachi-kun~"

"You sound like Orochimaru."

"I know hmm. Pretty cool, right?"

"Go away."

"But I thought you'd want company un," Deidara said, frowning in his direction.

"Not yours," Itachi grumbled, casting the blonde a sideways glance.

They were walking through the village, picking up groceries. Or Itachi had been anyway. Deidara came out of nowhere and started pestering him. He wouldn't have minded it so much had he not been carrying so many bags and had a hefty decision plaguing his mind.

"Do you want help?" Deidara asked.

As to whether he was asking in regards to the bags or Shisui's mission, Itachi had no idea. Either way, his answer was the same.

"No."

Deidara made a motion to snatch a few bags. "Let me help you..."

"I'm _fine_," Itachi muttered, moving his arms out of the way.

The younger blonde sent him a heavy glower. "You are _not _fine."

Itachi began walking ahead. "Well I don't want to be bothered right now," he said.

Deidara tried to reach out and grab the back of Itachi's shirt, but tripped over his own feet and went sprawling onto the ground. He raised his head and glared at the older raven's retreating form. "Itachi wait!"

Itachi stopped, looking over his shoulder. He ignored the stunned villagers that were watching them and said, "Get up off the ground. Uchihas don't grovel."

"I'm not an Uchiha un!" Deidara shouted at him, making no move to pick himself up.

Itachi felt his eyes turn to slits. "Oh really?"

The Iwa nin shook his head, getting into a low bow. "I'm sorry! I knew I shouldn't have stuck around as long as I did and I tried to tell you but you wouldn't listen to me! I'll do anything I can to help you un. But you have to let me!"

"..." Itachi turned his head back around, beginning to walk away. "Get up."

Deidara clenched his fists in barely restrained anger. _Dammit... Why won't he let me talk to him? Stupid bastard!_

Further down the road, Itachi was scowling, shifting his abnormal amount of groceries in his arms uncomfortably. _Why can't he read between the goddamn lines? Deidara-no-baka! _

* * *

><p><strong>Day Five: Tense Atmosphere <em>(thick as a brick)<em>**

Dinner that night in the Uchiha main household was full of bad aura and dark vibes. Naruto would try and strike up a conversation every now and then, but all he got in reply were short answers. Even from the normally talkative Deidara he looked to in times of trouble. When he looked to Sasuke for some sort of an answer, his best friend would only avert his gaze.

"Um..." Naruto opened his mouth to comment on what lovely weather they were having, despite the fact that it had been the same for the past few days. But he never got a chance to remind everyone that it was burning hot out and dark because Itachi suddenly spoke.

"Why are you staring at me?" he snapped at Deidara.

The blonde pursed his lips. "Because I'm trying to catch your eye but you're not looking at me hmm."

"What do you want?" Itachi's face wasn't getting any happier.

"I want to talk to you."

"No."

"But I really need-"

"_No_ Deidara," Itachi sharply cut him off.

Sasuke worriedly looked in between the two older teens.

Deidara slammed his fist on the table. "Dammit Itachi!"

"Not at the table!" Itachi angrily shouted.

Deidara narrowed his eyes, pushing his plate back before getting to his feet and storming out the room.

Itachi sighed in annoyance, throwing down his chopsticks. "Please excuse us," he grit out before standing up and following after the blonde.

Naruto kept his gaze down, fiddling with his chopsticks as he and Sasuke were left in an uncomfortable silence. "...Sasu-kun?"

"What is it Naru-chan?"

"Are things ever gonna get better?"

"...Who knows..."

Down the hallway they could make out the sounds of their older brothers yelling at one another.

"Don't create a scene in front of Naruto and Sasuke..."

"I'm not trying to. If you would just talk to me about this un-"

"You're making things even worse than they already are!"

"You want me to fall at your feet and apologize again un? One time wasn't enough huh!"

"I didn't tell you to apologize!"

"Well what do you _want _me to do?"

_"Leave!_"

Both Sasuke and Naruto looked over as Deidara practically ran past the kitchen.

Sasuke looked at his best friend with wide eyes.

Naruto shook his head and stood up, stumbling out the doorway. "Where are you going Deidara-nii?" he called.

Deidara paused at the front door, jamming on his sandals. "I'm...going out for a bit un," he said with a strained smile.

"But-"

"He'll be back," Itachi said, suddenly behind Naruto. He stared at the Iwa bomber with his arms folded and eyes narrowed. "Won't you now?"

Deidara scowled and then left, slamming the door shut behind him.

Naruto stared.

Itachi muttered something inaudible under his breath and turned around, heading back to his room. He was stopped only once by his younger brother who glared at him with flashing dark eyes. "What do you want Sasuke?" he irritably asked.

Sasuke scrunched his face up and then pivoted on his heel. "You're both being stupid," he said.

Itachi watched the tiny raven walk to his bedroom and then sighed, rubbing his brow tiredly as he left the darkened hallway.

Naruto looked as his family broke three separate ways and then slid down the closest wall, the faint traces of a smile on his face before he buried his head in his arms.

And he cried.

* * *

><p><strong>Day Six: Cousins <em>(when all else fails...)<em>**

Itachi ran the doorbell in front of him impatiently. He had not only woken to an empty bedroom, but an empty house as well.

If everyone was trying to avoid him, they were doing a pretty good job of it. So far, none of the other Uchihas inside their Compound would answer the door once they sensed it was him outside of it.

Which was why he had gone to his last resort.

Itachi pushed the doorbell he was at once again, almost punching it in. "Will someone answer already? I know you're in there!"

"..."

Itachi sported several tic marks. "OPEN UP!" he roared, drawing back a leg to bust the door in.

Luckily for the door, the person inside thought it might be a good idea to answer before they were killed.

Shisui opened the door with a blinding smile. "ITACHI-KUN!" he shouted with joy.

"Where's Deidara?" Itachi asked, getting straight to the point.

"Oh Deidara-kun?" Shisui placed a finger to his chin in thought. "I wouldn't know. He didn't come here after your fight last night if that's what you're wondering. I'd try the Haruno household though. It's where Naruto and Sasuke were headed today."

_Walking straight into the lion's den! _Itachi thought with a violent twitch. "Right...thanks." And then something occured to him. "Wait. How did you know about our fight?"

Shisui rolled his eyes. "Itachi the entire _village _and surrounding countries know," he said. "Maybe if you used your inside voice, it wouldn't be such a problem."

Itachi popped a vein. "Shut up Shisui!"

"Seriously though..." the seventeen year old Uchiha placed his hands on his hips. "Your business is practically out everywhere now. The Hokage-sama was thinking of paying you a visit last night, but Obito convinced him otherwise. Now the Hokage-sama is trying to have cameras installed on every house inside the Compound- so you'll need to take care of that at some point."

Itachi turned to the side, groaning loudly in exasperation. "Just what we need..."

Shisui looked at his younger cousin, eyes smart and calculating. "Have you made up your mind?"

Itachi stared at him. "Yeah..." He turned around and started walking down the porch. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Shisui watched him vanish from sight and then closed his door, staring at the interior of his house. A wry smile spread across his face.

"So this is how it is huh...?"

* * *

><p><strong>Day Seven: Resolutions <em>(and knowing things won't be the same)<em>**

Itachi sat on the edge of his bed, wrapping his upper arms with the last of his training bandages.

His bedroom was dark, the first signs of dawn barely breaking through his curtained window. He tied off the bandage on his left arm and then stood, silently moving across his floor to his closet. He grabbed a fishnet shirt and old Uchiha shirt he had cut the sleeves off of before pulling them both over his head. He had already been wearing his grey shinobi pants, and his shinobi sandals were at the front of his house.

With a light sigh, Itachi made up his bed and then turned to leave the room, grabbing the katana Shisui had given him for his birthday on the way out.

He glanced back only once to see the softly breathing form of Deidara, smirking. "Sorry...but this is one thing I won't let you do with me," he quietly muttered.

And then he shut the door.

Deidara waited until Itachi's footsteps had retreated completely before sitting up. His hair fell over his face like a cloud. "You won't let me...huh?"

He reached over to his dresser and grabbed his kunai holster, sliding out of bed and picking up the hitai-ate Hiruzen had given him a year ago. In less than a minute he had thrown off his night clothes and changed into his usual shinobi attire which consisted of a fishnet shirt, fingerless gloves, black pants, and midriff grey vest. After securely fixing his holster onto his right leg, he laughed to himself.

"That's real funny Itachi..."

Deidara tied the Konohagakure headband on with a smirk.

"I don't _ever _recall letting you tell me what to do un."

~X~

Naruto listened to the fading sound of footsteps and then turned away from the door, looking at Sasuke who was calmly sitting on the edge of their bed. "Deidara-nii and Itachi-nii have left."

Sasuke glanced up at him. "It's okay."

"It's not okay!" Naruto glared at his best friend, stomping over to him. "They might not come back!"

Sasuke grabbed the blonde by the arm, staring at him with a serious expression. "They'll be back for sure Naru-chan. We just have to trust them and allow them to do what they need to." He stood beside his friend, smiling slightly. "Until then, we need to cover for our older brothers!"

Naruto blinked. "You..." he grinned, wiping the tiny tear from the corner of his eye. "Of course we do! I'll get the spare sticks of dynamite from the pantry, and then we can blow up the bank!"

Sasuke whacked him over the head. "That's not what I meant baka!"

"Itai!"

~X~

Itachi stealthily walked down the dirt roads of the Uchiha Compound, glancing side-to-side as he did so. He hadn't bothered to leave a note behind; there would be no point. The Hokage would later inform them that he had been sent out on a long-term mission and his date back was unknown. Sasuke and Naruto would continue going to the Academy in his absence, and Deidara would-

Itachi raised a brow to himself.

What _would _Deidara do?

After all, his main target of torture was kind of leaving the village for a while.

The fifteen year old raven shook his head. Whatever the bomber did, it would either be productive or cause Konoha to lose another bank. Still... Itachi couldn't help but feel as if things wouldn't go as he wanted. Nothing ever did anymore, and this time didn't feel any different. Something was off. He wasn't alone in wandering outside his house...someone else was too...

Itachi's eyes widened. _No. He did _not _follow me out here-_

"Shouldn't you be keeping your eyes in front of you hmm?"

Itachi came to a halt, eyes narrowed as his gaze landed on the blonde in the middle of the road. "What do you think you're doing?"

Deidara's smirk was easy to see, even in the dark. "I thought I'd take a morning stroll un. What do you _think _I'm doing out here?"

"Going home," Itachi shortly replied, walking ahead.

Deidara clotheslined him before he could pass. "I don't think so," he said as Itachi took a step back and rubbed his sore throat.

Itachi glowered at the blonde. "Just go back, will you? I have some business to take care of- and you won't stop me."

"I never said anything about stopping you," Deidara said, lifting a brow. "I'm coming with you un."

"No you're not."

"I'm going."

"You're not."

"Itachi-"

"I said you're not going!" Itachi yelled. "Good _grief _Deidara! Would it kill you to back out of my space for once? You haven't stopped clinging to me since the day you met me! You're like- like some sort of frickin' barnacle that refuses to let go of its victim!" His bloodline limit activated in anger. "All you've ever done for me is cause trouble. My brother is now under your very horrid influence and the Hyuuga Clan is at a constant war with us! I used to very respected and within the Hokage's good graces- and I'll be damned if you ruin this opportunity for me to redeem myself and save my parents who you got into this whole mess to begin with!"

"..."

"..." Itachi blinked and then deactivated his Sharingan, taking a step forward. "Look Deidara-"

Deidara stepped away, lips set in a tight line. "I came to help you."

"I know that," Itachi brought a hand to his head, sighing heavily. "I didn't mean what I said. I took my anger out on you and-"

Deidara turned on his heel and started to walk away.

Itachi noticed he was heading for the Compound exit and ran after him. "Where are you going?"

"I thought it'd be obvious," Deidara muttered.

Itachi clamped a hand onto his shoulder in an iron grip, forcing the younger blonde to look at him. "I told you I didn't mean it! Why are you _leaving_?" he asked in frustration, staring into the only blue eye his could see.

Deidara gave him an odd look, both of his brows raised. "The village gates are that way. I thought that's where we were meeting with Shisui."

Itachi stared at him. "...What?"

"Shisui wanted us to meet him at dawn." The Iwa nin pointed to the sky before moving it to the path he had been walking down. "We'd meet at the gates and then leave to find out where this stupid enemy shinobi is holding our parents. Wasn't that the plan un?"

"..."

"..."

Itachi took his hand off the blonde's shoulder. "You're not angry," he said.

"And I'm not a 'frickin' barnacle' either," Deidara snidely replied, starting to walk out the Compound again with Itachi at his side. "I know this is my fault so I'm not mad. You, however, have every right to be upset. That's why I want to help you un. After we get our parents back, I'll figure out somewhere else to go. Pein offered a place in his club..."

"What are you talking about?" Itachi questioned, not bothering to spare the bomber a glance as they headed through the village by rooftop. "You're not leaving."

Deidara jumped alongside him. "You don't know what tou-san and kaa-san will think of me."

"I don't care."

"They might hate me un."

"Who doesn't?"

"_Itachi_."

"Look- we'll worry about it when it happens." Itachi finally looked at him. "Right now we need to stay focused on the task at hand. This is a mission after all you know."

Deidara let out a tiny laugh and then skidded to a halt at the edge of the building they were on. "I know un."

Itachi noticed the outline of Shisui's figure in the distance and then smirked. "Oh and Deidara?"

"What?"

"This village would _never _let you leave."

Deidara cocked a brow as the raven jumped down. "Huh?"

~X~

Shisui smiled as Deidara and Itachi came into view. "Well good morning my lovely cousins~" he sang, flying towards them with his arms outstretched.

Itachi brought up his foot, kicking him in the face. "Cut it out!" he shouted with a popped vein.

"Ow! I was just trying to be nice," Shisui cried to himself.

"Well don't," Itachi muttered, removing his foot.

Deidara grinned, placing a comforting arm around Shisui's shoulder. "It's okay. He's just grumpy he didn't get his Shinobi O's this morning un."

Shisui sadly shook his head. "I should have known..."

"What the hell is wrong with you two?" Itachi asked with his brow twitching.

They ignored him completely in favor of sobbing on one another's shoulders. "You know," Shisui said, wiping his tear-filled eyes. "I just try and try, but it never works!"

"I know Shisui-kun, I know," Deidara weeped.

Itachi folded his arms, leaning to the side with an eyebrow raised. "Shouldn't we be heading out instead of standing around here?"

"Of course," Shisui stepped away from Deidara, coughing lightly.

"..."

"..."

Deidara looked in between them.

"SHISUI!" Itachi shouted.

His older cousin grinned. "I spaced out for a second there."

"I don't care..." Itachi ground out with a dark glower. "Let's just get going."

"Right. I'll fill you in on the plan on our way to the first village," Shisui said, turning and motioning with his hand. "For now you guys follow me."

Deidara and Itachi exchanged a glance before nodding.

Within the next second, all that was left in their place was a swirl of leaves and a boulder.

They were officially on duty.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: And there you have it. They're going out on a mission to rescue Itachi's parents who apparently can't save themselves :P**

**Do you wanna find out what happens?**

**Next update will come shortly. **


	5. Short Travels and Encounters

**A/N: Thank you guys for the reviews and readings! It really makes my day when I know you guys are enjoying this just as much as I am :P**

**Well now that Itachi and Deidara have 'settled' things, let's see what they get themselves into. As for Itachi's parents...maybe they're both just lightweights lol XD**

**Warning: Language, slight violence, OOC, etc...**

**^v^**

* * *

><p>"Lovely weather, isn't it?"<p>

"Shut up Shisui."

"Well _someone's _in a bad mood un."

"I don't want to hear that from you!" Itachi snapped, pushing heavily off the tree he was on.

Deidara snickered under his breath.

Shisui led Itachi and Deidara through the tree tops with mild speed, the sun rising slowly behind them and casting a golden hue onto the leaves and tree branches.

The tree branches which Deidara was having great fun in slinging back into Itachi's face.

Itachi growled as the nth piece of wood came slamming into his nose. "Will you _cut that out?" _he ground out.

Deidara looked over his shoulder with a smirk. "I'm sorry un, did you say something? I couldn't hear you over the grinding of your teeth."

Itachi popped a vein. "You annoying little-"

"So Shisui-kun," Deidara cut him off, looking back towards the seventeen year old Uchiha leading them. "Where exactly are we headed hmm?"

Shisui glanced at him with a smile. "Glad you asked. Because I have no idea."

"…"

"…"

Deidara deadpanned as Itachi screeched to a halt beside him.

Shisui paused, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry- I had to take us off course for a while."

"Since when?" Itachi murmured.

"For the past thirty minutes un," Deidara replied, voice equally low. He stooped down and placed a hand on the bark of the tree , listening intently to his surroundings. "Okay. There's a decent amount of them."

"Don't worry," Shisui said with a large smile. He swung upside-down from the branch he was on, grinning secretly as he landed on the branch Itachi and Deidara were on. "I'll go find out where these guys came from. Do what you want with them- I'll be back soon," he said before pushing off the wood and into the trees.

Deidara stood just as a group of ten masked shinobi circled them. "Ah…we're surrounded on all sides!" he cried out, voice a slightly higher pitch than normal.

Itachi glanced at him.

One of the shinobi- presumably the leader if the large spectacles on his face had anything to say about it- stepped forward, grinning leeringly beneath his mask. "That's right kid. We've come to bring you to our friend. He says he knows you."

Deidara opened and closed his mouth, clearly flabbergasted. "Y-You know who I am un?"

"We don't have to," the leader chuckled. We only have to know that you're wanted and we get paid for doing our job. Now why don't you be a good boy and come over here?"

"No," Deidara stuck out his tongue.

A kunai whizzed by his cheek, causing the skin to break and a thin trail of blood trickle out.

Deidara clapped a hand to his face. "Ow un!"

The man barked out a laugh. "Ha! He's weak- no better than a mere Genin!"

The group tittered with chuckles.

Deidara dropped his hand, his face taking on one of horror. "Oh no! What do we do Itachi-sensei?" he asked, finally looking at the raven for an answer.

Itachi resisted the urge to punch him in the face, instead assuming the role forced on him. "Idiot. I knew it was too soon to bring you out- go back and call for help!" _Why do _I _have to play the part as the weak teacher? It's so pathetic… _he sourly thought as Deidara saluted.

"Hai!" The blonde turned around on his heel, shooting off into a different part of the forest.

"Hey! Don't let that little runt go!" The leader ordered.

A group of three nodded to one another before vanishing from sight.

Itachi inwardly rolled his eyes and then faced the leader and the six others with him. "Why send so few after my student?" he questioned in a bored voice.

"It won't take much to bring down a _child_," the leader sneered, pushing his glasses higher up on the bridge of his nose.

Itachi scoffed under his breath. "That's what you think," he uttered. "Let's just get this over with," he said, reappearing behind the leader of the shinobi group with narrowed eyes. "Shall we?"

The leader stiffened.

And released a bloodcurdling scream.

* * *

><p><strong>-About One Minute Later-<strong>

* * *

><p>"Whoa un. What did you do to them?"<p>

Itachi looked up from where he was hog-tying the seven shinobi who dared attack him. Deidara was standing across from him with a brow raised, a body across his shoulder and two more under an arm. Itachi stepped back from the pile of shinobi, dusting his hands off while eyeing their unconscious leader. "I should be asking _you _that. Was there a point to running off?"

Deidara grinned and heaved his shoulder a little, kneeling down to deposit the three shinobi he defeated on the large branch. "It was fun. You should've seen how they fought un!"

"If it was anything like the fighting my opponents did, then I don't want to see," Itachi uttered in a low tone, looking a bit put out.

"Aww," Deidara cooed, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Did someone want to fight a big bad shinobi?"

"Don't make me punch you in the face," Itachi snapped.

Deidara laughed behind a hand and then raised both brows in an amused fashion. "So what are we supposed to do with these guys?"

The fifteen year old raven turned on his heel and started moving through the trees in the opposite direction.

Deidara appeared next to him, smirking. "Gee, what a great answer hmm. Was it that hard to say 'leave 'em'?"

"I didn't feel the need to answer you," Itachi said with an exasperated sigh. "You're so stupid for letting yourself get hit with a kunai. Even if it _was _for acting purposes. What kind of a baka toys with their opponents?"

"Me. I wanted to stretch my muscles and get warmed up for whoever else we run into un," the blonde bomber said, cracking his knuckles with a wide smile.

"Warmed up?" Itachi glanced at him. "If they were stronger, you wouldn't be saying that."

"Maybe. But it didn't take much to bring _those _losers down," Deidara snickered.

Itachi clicked his tongue and pushed the younger blonde's head down. "You're too cocky."

Deidara grinned, sticking his tongue out. "And you're not cocky enough."

"There's no need to be," Itachi muttered, eyeing him.

The Iwa nin shrugged. "If you say so un."

Shisui came out from the tree above them, jumping one branch ahead. "Did you have fun?" he asked, looking over his shoulder curiously.

"Where did you go?" Itachi questioned, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

"Out on a stroll," Shisui grinned.

"…"

"…"

Itachi covered his face with a hand. "Why?"

"I figured you two could handle them and let out all that bad tension you had going on between you guys earlier," Shisui said with a serious expression, although his eyes said differently.

Itachi deadpanned. "You. Are. An. Idiot."

"It wasn't much of a challenge," Deidara said, blinking in the older Uchiha's direction.

"It's never a challenge when all you do is blow your opponents up," Itachi said with a roll of his eyes.

Deidara scowled. "I didn't even use my explosives un! You probably went off and used your little eye powers to win," he wiggled his fingers.

Itachi scowled right back. "I didn't need to use the Sharingan _moron_."

"You're the moron not me," the bomber snapped.

"At least I don't look like one," Itachi huffed. "You little blonde monster."

Deidara stuck a hand in his mouth before zooming up beside Itachi and shoving a finger in the other teen's ear. "Wet loogie! Watch who you're calling names, _aniki_."

"Disgusting!" Itachi pushed him away, trying to clean out his ear with a horrified expression. "Try that again and I'll chop your hands off, _imouto_."

Deidara bristled, his visible eye widened in rage. "Imouto? Why I oughta-"

"Now that no one's following us," Shisui began to say to prevent an argument, "I can tell you where we're really going." He changed course almost immediately, veering sharply off to the left.

Deidara and Itachi followed without hesitation.

"We're going for a village on the outskirts of Fire Country. It's a non-shinobi village so there shouldn't be any more attacks on us once we get there," Shisui explained. "Shouldn't be anyway. But our bounty hunter, Toshiaki, will no doubt have spies posted throughout. He has a hideout set up between a pair of mountains behind the village- so that's where we'll be keeping our aim for."

Itachi gave his cousin a short look. "And what do you want us to do with the spies in the village?" he asked, though he already knew.

Shisui gave him an equally short look. "We get rid of them."

"Shouldn't we at least keep a few around un?" Deidara spoke up from behind the pair. He shrugged when they both turned their gazes onto him. "I mean, Kaeru-sensei is bound to notice if a bunch of his followers go missing. And then it could turn into something even more troublesome."

Shisui grinned. "I intend on capturing a few and putting them under a genjutsu. They'll report back to Toshiaki regularly and he won't notice a thing. It doesn't look like he's very good at seeing through illusions- if his followers say anything about him," he said.

"He always was bad at genjutsu…" Deidara thoughtfully murmured. "Taking him down should be easy enough. If he's still as weak as he was seven years ago that is un…"

Shisui moved up beside the blonde and poked him in the head. "Don't ever underestimate your opponents."

"Fine, fine," Deidara muttered. "I'm just saying…"

"It's not really a problem is it?" Itachi moved up onto Deidara's other side, glancing across at his cousin. "All of us are capable of taking care of ourselves."

"We'll have to be more careful though. Toshiaki is beginning to send out others to capture Deidara," Shisui said, jumping ahead a bit. "Which means we'll be encountering a lot more shinobi like the ones we just ran into. They're weak- but if there gets to be too many of them, it can become an issue."

"Great," Itachi said with a heavy sigh. "Now we have to keep an eye out for Deidara-no-baka _and_ make sure hedoesn't get kidnapped too. Could things get any more complicated?"

Deidara rolled his eyes. "Well _excuse _me for creating so many problems for Mr. Perfection over here."

Itachi glared at him. "I never said I was perfect."

"I'll say un."

"Stop being hypocritical Dei-da-ra," Itachi said with a tiny huff.

"I can be what I want _Itachi_," Deidara harrumphed right back at him.

"And what is that?" the older teen inquired. "An annoying little brat?"

"I'd rather be a brat than an old ugly troll!" Deidara snapped.

Itachi popped a vein. "Who the hell are you calling a troll? You fatass!"

Now it was Deidara's turn to pop a vein. "Who's the fatass? Weren't you the one who got stuck in the pantry a week ago?"

"Only because you locked me in there with Kakashi and the Hokage-sama!" Itachi exclaimed.

"Well you would've gotten stuck even if they weren't there," Deidara muttered.

"What was that?"

Shisui came to an abrupt halt, holding out his arms and effectively whacking both Itachi and Deidara in the face. "There's the village!" he cheerfully announced, pointing down to a fairly empty town a few miles away.

Itachi glared at him while holding his nose. "You stopped us for _that?_"

Shisui beamed at him. "Well I couldn't just let you run ahead now could I?"

Itachi drop-kicked him. "You could!"

Deidara smirked at them. "Take it easy boys. We've just made it one step closer to saving our parents."

Shisui squealed, pulling Deidara into a big hug. "You are my favorite cousin ever!" he exclaimed, tears pouring out his eyes.

"Itachi's such a bore isn't he?" Deidara laughed.

"Such a bore."

"A terrible bore."

"We should just ditch him and go," Shisui said with a bored expression.

"Totally agreed un," Deidara intoned back.

Itachi felt an eye twitch. "Do you two _mind_?"

Deidara and Shisui blinked. "Did you hear something?" Shisui asked.

"Nah-" Deidara picked his ear. "Must've been a bug."

They exchanged a glance before laughing obnoxiously, their laughs scaring away all the nearby birds and animals.

Itachi plugged his ears. "Will you pipe down!" he shouted.

"Hahahahahaha-"

"Hohohohohohohmmm-"

Itachi closed his eyes in annoyance. "You…guys…." he growled.

"AHAHAHAHAHA-!"

"AHAHAHAUNHAHAHAUN-!"

Itachi shoved them off the branch they were on, vein throbbing. "JUST SHUT UP AND GET GOING!" he roared.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: The first step is halfway taken. But of course things won't go as smoothly as Itachi wants. **

**Until the next time...**


	6. Hidden Ability? An Uneasy Feeling!

**A/N: Phew. What a slow update. I'm sorry for that, but it was just a pretty eventful week. **

**On that note- I hope this chapter isn't bad. I slipped for some reason along the way...**

**Warning: Language, slight violence, OOC, and whatever else you find needs one.**

**^-^u**

* * *

><p>Itachi tiredly sighed as they finally entered the village Shisui had pointed out from in the trees. "Thank…Kami-sama…"<p>

Shisui grinned at him. "Don't look so down. It wasn't _that _bad."

"You were hardly even there," Itachi darkly growled, feeling something in his neck crick.

Shisui only laughed and moved out of hitting range.

In the time span of two hours, they had been attacked by twelve more groups of shinobi ranging from three to eight men and women. All of which were defeated in a span of thirty seconds to three minutes respectively. It was ridiculous how many ninja the bounty hunter Toshiaki Kaeru seemed to have on his side, and it was giving them no time to rest or even think about where the multitudes were coming from.

As of now the trio wasn't having any trouble in dealing with the ninja and had no cuts or scratches on their skin.

Well, except for Deidara.

But that was from their first encounter in the woods and the thin scar on his cheek was healing into a barely noticeable line. Speaking of the blonde…

Deidara seemed oddly content, humming quite loudly and obnoxiously as they walked through the dirt roads of the peaceful village.

Itachi popped a vein. "Shut. Up."

Deidara smirked at him. "Am I pissing you off un?"

"_Yes_," the raven said through clenched teeth, finding the annoying little tune already starting to replay through his mind.

Deidara let out a short laugh, turning his head with a coy smile. "Good. My quota for the day has been met then."

Itachi resisted the urge to drop-kick the blonde, instead looking to his older cousin. "Now that we're here, what do you want us to do?" he asked.

"First we should find a place to stay," Shisui said, idly gazing about. "I heard that there was a pretty decent Inn in here. There we can plan our next move and relax a bit. After all, Toshiaki-kun won't be doing anything to your parents. He needs to keep them alive and well if he wants Deidara to willingly walk into clutches. In that retrospect, we need to keep alert for any more shinobi who will try and capture him. If that happens, Toshiaki-kun will have no problem in getting rid of Fugaku-sama and Mikoto-chan." He paused, glancing sideways at the two younger teens walking next to him. "And of course- he'd waste no time in destroying Deidara-kun."

"Ha! As if I'd be beaten so easily!" The Iwa nin cheerfully cheered, looking around the fairly busy village. Most of the villagers seemed to stay close to their carts and shops, but the smiles and crinkle of their eyes showed their happiness and satisfaction with their lifestyles. _I wanna be like that one day hmm. After all this is over…_

Shisui smiled at the blonde's attitude. "I still think you should be careful. You never know what might happen."

Deidara put a finger to his chin in thought, eyeing the fifteen year old raven beside him. "I'll be fine un. Even if I got into a pinch, Itachi-kun would never let any harm come to me," he confidently said.

"What makes you think I won't?" Itachi uttered under his breath.

"Because-" Deidara grinned, punching him in the arm. "Family sticks together, am I right?"

Itachi stared at him for a while and then scoffed. "Whatever floats your boat," he muttered, trying to quell the warm feeling in his face. To have someone he could depend on like this was strange. _Even more so because it's Deidara-no-baka. _He had to watch over Sasuke before. But that was before Naruto and Deidara unexpectedly entered. Having the odd desire to keep those he cared for and didn't want to see get hurt, was something relatively new. After all, earlier he only had to really worry about himself.

_My family…has really turned into something strange, _he thought to himself with a short laugh.

Deidara eyed him. "What's so funny un?"

Itachi looked at the younger blonde and smirked, ruffling the front of his bangs as he said, "Nothing. Nothing at all."

Deidara swatted the hand away with a mock scowl. "No touching the hair un!" he shouted before bursting out into laughter.

Itachi felt his lips twitch up into a smile, rolling his eyes and opting to step away from the blonde before the laughter became too contagious and he found himself on the ground.

"Don't run from me Itachi-kun~" Deidara cooed, reaching out his arms.

Itachi sweatdropped in both amusement and disgust. "You sound too much like Orochimaru. Cut it out."

Deidara snickered. "Practice makes perfect un."

Shisui grinned, moving away from them with a shining aura around him. "Well, I'm just gonna go check into the Inn we'll be staying at for the time being. You two go on and have fun."

Deidara raised a brow, managing to quell his laughter. "Have fun un?"

"That's right." Shisui's eyes shifted to the side before he shook his head and raised a hand. "I'll leave you two alone now. Ja ne~!"

Neither of the younger teens had a chance to say anything else as the eldest Uchiha vanished in a swift swirl of leaves.

Itachi released a deep breath of air, massaging his suddenly aching forehead. "Why couldn't he just take us with him?" he muttered to himself. "Sometimes he makes no sense at all."

Deidara shrugged, beginning to skip ahead. "Guess we'll just have 'fun' then."

"Not so fast…" a voice spoke from the shadows.

Itachi paused in his walking. "Hm?"

"You two aren't going anywhere."

Deidara and Itachi uninterestedly looked at the group of six that came to surrounded them.

"More of these guys?" Deidara muttered under his breath. "What a waste of time un."

"Didn't Shisui tell you not to underestimate your opponents?" Itachi said, glancing at the younger blonde. _Speaking of that baka…I'm going to kill him when he gets back! Always leaving at times like this! _

"It's hard not to," Deidara snorted. "I mean- look what they're wearing!"

Yes- the rainbow colored jumpsuits were indeed a bit distracting to look at.

"We have all been informed of your current skill level _genin_," a shinobi sneered, stepping forward from the pack of six. "And Toshiaki-sama has ordered the capture of both you and your…sensei," he said, glancing at Itachi briefly.

Deidara smirked a bit. "Is that so..?"

Itachi inwardly rolled his eyes. _I am _so _not playing that teacher role again… _

"We are the Rainbow Elite! The strongest in this village!"

Itachi deadpanned, looking away. _And what's with the name…? _

"So why don't you make things easier and forfeit," the shinobi continued, haughtily lifting his head.

"No way un! Someone like you could never hope to take me on," Deidara said. "And you wanna know why?"

"Er-" the shinobi scratched the side of his cheek. "I suppose so."

"Because you're weak!" Deidara laughed, pulling down his eyelid and sticking his tongue out.

"NANI?"

Itachi sighed heavily, covering his face with a hand. "What did I say about provoking people..?"

Deidara turned to look at him. "I was just telling him the truth- Waah!" He was cut off as the insulted shinobi appeared in front of him, delivering a swift uppercut to his jaw and causing him to fly a good amount of feet into the air.

The shinobi cackled madly following him up and swinging back his leg. "Super Kick no Jutsu!"

Itachi looked through his fingers.

Deidara grabbed the ankle of his attacker with angry eyes, spinning around once before throwing the man down.

"What?" the shinobi crashed to the ground in a plume of dirt. He sat up with an aching back, wiping the blood away from his chin. "It's not possible for a weakling like you to counter my super powerful kick and live! You're just supposed to be some pathetic brat student!"

Deidara's visible eye widened in fury, fingers forming fast seals as he turned in the air. "You've…just made me angry!" He paused on the seal of the Tiger, although one of his pointer fingers remained bent.

Itachi's eyes narrowed.

"Don't you dare underestimate me! KATON JUTSU!" Deidara yelled.

"U-Uwaah! He's gonna burn us to a crisp!" one of the following shinobi screamed.

"Run away!" another one cried, bumping into several of his comrades as he tried to run away.

"T-Toshiaki-sama must know of this strange development!"

"Hurry!"

Itachi stared as the supposedly elite group of Rainbow shinobi scrambled off into the opposite direction, all the while letting out fearful cries and shouts over their shoulders. _Is this Toshiaki guy really strong enough to have captured my parents? _he thought with a large sweatdrop. _If his followers have anything to say about him maybe we won't have to worry after all…_

Deidara landed lightly on the ground beside the thinking Uchiha, smirking broadly to himself. "Well that was easy," he said.

Itachi smacked him over the head. "Baka!"

"Ow! What was that for?" Deidara scowled, glaring at him.

Itachi glared right back, crossing his arms to stare the younger blonde down. "Don't fake a jutsu you can't even do."

Deidara rolled his eyes. "Why not un? It's not like they knew any different."

"I noticed."

"That's because you're an Uchiha un. You already _know _what the jutsu's supposed to look like." Deidara turned away, grinning and heaving his shoulders a little. "Who knows- maybe I'll have the Sharingan next time."

Itachi's eye twitched and he lunged at Deidara, tugging on the corners of the Iwa nin's cheeks from behind. "Yeah right! In your dreams you little brat!"

"Ugh! Let go you stupid troll!"

"Who's the troll? Fat blonde monster!"

"Speak for yourself fatass un!"

"Pest!"

"Ugly!"

Itachi popped a vein. "You're the ugly one here- you cow."

Deidara grinned, although the throbbing vein on his head betrayed his anger. "Better than being a beached whale un."

"Effeminate boy!"

"Who the hell are you calling an effeminate boy hmm? Damn bastard!"

"Ano…" Shisui sweatdropped, holding a hand up to the bickering pair. "What are you two doing?"

Itachi tore his gaze from Deidara to pop several more veins in anger at his cousin. "And where the hell did you go? Always disappearing right before a fight!"

"Itachi…" Deidara darkly muttered. "OFF OF MY FOOT- _NOW_!" he yelled, stomping on the older teen's foot.

Itachi fought back the urge to shout as a tingle of pain ran up his spine. He felt his fingers clench and unclench, giant flames rising up behind him with a bright gleam in his eye. "Dei-da-ra…"

_*Jab*_

"Itai, itai, itai! Are you _trying _to make me blind un?"

"Well- hey watch it! I actually _need _my eyes Deidara-no-baka!"

"Why you-"

"You two are drawing quite the crowd," Shisui interrupted, deadpanning.

Deidara and Itachi blinked and then stepped away from one another, looking around to see the small ring of villagers who had gathered to watch them argue.

"Aw, why'd it stop?" a little girl asked, tugging on her mother's skirt.

The mother sighed. "I dunno, but now our entertainment's gone."

"Boo! I wanted more!" an elderly man shouted.

"Yeah, yeah!" several more of the bystanders exclaimed.

Itachi felt a brow quirk as the crowd dispersed, a few of the villagers throwing coins at them. "Do we look like some kind of show to them…?" he asked aloud.

Deidara harrumphed, opening the eyelid of his right eye and allowing it to dry out and water. "I think they're trying to tell you something un. Maybe you should join the Circus."

Itachi whirled around, several tic marks plastered to the back of his head. "Shut the hell up!" he raged.

Shisui raised both hands to stop the pair from quarrelling again. "Alright, cut it out you two." He couldn't help but smile when they scowled and moved closer to him. With a squeal, he lunged and pulled them into a tight hug full of sparkles and sunshine. "You guys are just so cute~!" he excitedly exclaimed.

"Too close for comfort!" Itachi and Deidara shouted in unison, drop-kicking the older Uchiha.

"Owie!" Shisui moved away, holding a hand to his smarting nose. "You're so mean to me…"

"Hn. Nevermind that," Itachi said, fixing the front of his bangs that had gotten mussed in his temporary fit of anger. "Where did you actually go when those guys attacked?"

Shisui blinked and then lowered his hand. "Oh that. Well- I've discovered the location of our bounty hunter. We'll head to the Inn I got us a room in and then I can further explain things."

Deidara cocked his head to the side, staring imploringly at the seventeen year old. "Kaeru-sensei? You found that out so fast and got us a room?" _How scary… Just how strong is he? I've never _really _seen him fight, have I? For some reason...I get the feeling he's a lot stronger than me... _

"That's right. Let's just say I'm light on my feet." Shisui grinned, turning around and motioning for them to follow him down the street. "Shall I fill you in on what your ex-sensei has been up to during his seven years out of Iwagakure?"

Itachi and Deidara exchanged a glance before running after Shisui.

It didn't sound like anything good.

And Itachi had a strange feeling of foreboding in his gut.

He had been getting this sensation of trouble lately, and though he hadn't bothered to bring it up. He knew the ominous feeling he had was going to lead to something potentially troublesome for all of them. But how troublesome was unknown.

_I just hope none of us end up getting hurt... _

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Oohhh...I wonder what's going to happen. **

**Lol, I should know since I'm writing right? ****But the story kind of goes on its own...**

**Anyhow, let me know what you think :D**


	7. Bounty Hunter's Hideout?

**A/N: I surprised myself by going in a bit of a writing spree. Actual writing with a pencil and notebook and not typing because my laptop got taken away... -_-**

**But it's alright now. This chapter is kind of short- but I wrote two for you to make up for it, and another is on it's way soon. **

**Warning: Language, slight violence, OOC, anything else you find needs one...**

**^v6**

* * *

><p>"Whew…" Deidara appreciatively whistled as they stepped into their room at the Inn Shisui had found.<p>

The room was small and really nothing far too extravagant, but the walls were painted bright orange and pink hues. And there was a large window in the back which showed the more scenic side of the village that faced towards the forest.

Itachi looked around and folded his arms across his chest. "It's nice. How much did you pay? I don't remember us bringing money."

"I just asked the guy at the front desk nicely for a momentary place to stay."

_I doubt you asked nicely… _Itachi thought with a deadpan expression.

"Well I like it!" Deidara excitedly exclaimed, turning this way and that as if absorbing in the sight of the tiny room. "It's perfect hmm."

Itachi gave him a blank look. _Perfect for what…?_

"Don't get too used to it," Shisui idly said, stretching his back and arms. "With the amount of shinobi and spied milling around, it would be unwise."

"You mean we won't be staying un?" Deidara asked, looking slightly put out.

"We have to keep an eye out for those back in our village as well as Pein and his friends." Shisui sat down in front of the small table in the center of the room, offering the blonde an apologetic grin.

Itachi raised both brows. "What? Why?"

"Because our bounty hunter is crazy," Shisui said, waving them over. "While you guys were out taking care of those Rainbow Elite, I went off a found myself a couple of spies who were sitting quite obviously on top of a supermarket building."

"All of our supposed enemies are jokes," Deidara scoffed. "They fight like newly made Genins."

"That may be," Shisui agreed. "But Toshiaki-kun is just trying to stock up on numbers to overwhelm us like I orginally suspected. It looks like he's out to get not only Deidara-kun, but everyone who could possibly be acquainted with him. His reasoning is that somehow once he destroys Deidara-kun, those that knew him would come and try to get revenge. Something about distributing body parts among the villagers when he's done…"

"Kaeru-sensei is a very paranoid guy," Deidara grumbled. "I'm not surprised in the least bit un."

Shisui chuckled and spread out the large scroll he had stolen from one of the spies, revealing a map of the village and its surrounding area. "Neither am I. He's just recruiting a bunch of rogue shinobi who have nothing better to do and want money. He pays them every time they come back with a piece of information on us."

"Where is he getting the money from?" Deidara leaned over his shoulder, Itachi opting to sit cross-legged beside his cousin instead. "With all those guys he'd have to be rich."

Shisui bobbed his head. "The caves around here are popular for mining. Crystals and precious stones can be found by venturing deep inside the caves. Unfortunately, they have dangerous animals lurking inside so most villagers won't go." He glanced outside the large window in the room, gazing at the tall misted mountains in the distance.

Itachi narrowed his eyes, studying the seventeen year old Uchiha. "Villagers won't go, but for a shinobi, traveling the caves would be much easier. Am I right?"

Shisui grinned at his cousin. "Aa. Our bounty hunter makes his money by mining in those caves which he then gives out to the shinobi who work under him that are too scared to go into the caves on their own. Toshiaki-kun also seems to be experimenting with different types of chakra, but for a reason unknown. Or so the spies tell me. I wouldn't know for sure- but I have a feeling they're not lying. There's a strange air around one of the cave he's set camp up in. And your parents are there."

"My parents?" Itachi slowly blinked. "Why would he set up camp in a cave so close to us and have my parents there? And he doesn't even bother to hide himself or his location. It has to be a trap to pull us in."

"Kaeru-sensei really has no sense," Deidara muttered. "Trust me un, it's not a trap."

"Okay, so we're here," Shisui pointed to the village they were in on the map. "And the latest message Toshiaki-kun sent out said he would be waiting for the next few days in the cave between the mountains a little ways off until he figures out what our next move is," he dragged his finger all the way across the scroll to a dark smudge of ink.

Itachi stared at the distance they would have to travel and then felt his eye twitch. "What part of that was 'a little ways off'?" he growled, a blood vessel threatening to burst.

Shisui grinned. "The distance from the cave to the mountains," he said.

Itachi bashed his cousin's head into the table, vein throbbing. "Say that _before _then!"

Deidara moved back, sweatdropping slightly. "I guess we should head out as soon as possible to investigate these caves then. Is tomorrow morning good un?"

Shisui whipped his head up, beaming in his direction. "Sounds good to me. Just make sure both of you stock up on provisions because once we leave-" his eyes gleamed. "We won't be stopping again."

Itachi tugged on Shisui's ear, looking irritated. "Don't say it so ominously…" he grumbled.

Shisui snickered before tackling the other teen to the ground.

Itachi let out a shout at being caught off guard before trying to fend Shisui off.

Deidara watched the two blood-relatives wrestle across the floor and then smirked, turning around and starting to walk towards the bedroom exit. "I'm gonna use the bathroom. I'll be back un."

Shisui waved to show that he had heard as he shoved a flailing Itachi's face into the ground. "Don't fall in~!"

"Er- hai..." Deidara closed the door gently behind him and then sighed, heading to where he thought the bathrooms were. _I hope Sasu-kun and Naru-chan are going to be alright. Things shouldn't get any worse than they are now… All we have to do is destroy sensei and rescue his parents. Then everything can go back to how it was before. _He frowned in thought. _Right…? _

For some reason, he couldn't shake off the cold chill that had settled in his bones.

~X~

Itachi _finally _managed to throw his surprisingly heavy cousin off of him, and now sat straight, fixing his hair-tie which had grown loose in the struggle. "Geez…I think you bruised my ribs."

"No," Shisui eyed him musingly. "It's just your nose that's disfigured."

Itachi's brow quirked. But he dropped the matter and spared a glance at the door which Deidara had just left from, instead saying, "He was upset."

"Anyone could tell that," Shisui said, sitting across from the younger Uchiha. Well- there's nothing we can do about it. He already feels responsible for the capture of your parents, and knowing that the village he's been in and grown to like for the past three years is could possibly be in danger by some deranged bounty hunter, is enough to make anybody worry."

"Tch. It's not all his fault," Itachi muttered, crossing his arms. And then something occurred to him. "Wait a second…" he looked at his cousin suspiciously. "How did you find all this out? I'm sure those spies wouldn't just willingly tell you."

Shisui put a finger to his chin and gazed up at the ceiling in thought. "Well that is to say…it sort of went something like this…"

* * *

><p><strong><em>-Flashback-<em>**

* * *

><p><em>Shisui stepped towards the cornered group of spies with a pleasant smile. "Time's up boys. Why don't you just-"<em>

"_Shut up!" one of them cried. _

_Shisui's eye twitched. "Why don't you just-"_

"_We'll never give in!"_

"_Yeah- so back off buster!"_

_Shisui lowered his head, eyes closed and a vein throbbing. "Just-"_

"_AHOY!"_

"_THAT'S IT!" A large explosion of murderous aura poured out from the very angry Uchiha. He locked his furious crimson gaze on the now trembling spies. "What is _with _the people of this world interrupting me? I can't even get a damn sentence out anymore!"_

_One of the spies meekly moved forward. "U-Um…may I speak?"_

"_No you may not speak!" Shisui shouted with a popped vein. "I'M PISSED!" he suddenly hollered. "AND DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I GET PISSED?"_

"_You take some rage pills and see a frickin' psychiatrist," one of the more outgoing spies muttered. _

_Shisui lunged. "WRONG ANSWER!"_

* * *

><p><strong><em>-End Flashback-<em>**

* * *

><p>"And after that, they gladly told me what I wanted to know," Shisui cheerfully said.<p>

Itachi sweatdropped. "I can't believe you think _I _have problems."

Shisui laughed. "You do. Ahahahahahaha-"

Itachi popped a vein. "Shut up!"

Fake tears poured down Deidara's face from where he had overheard the conversation by the doorway. _As I thought….Shisui is really scary…_

Itachi glanced over at him with a twitching brow. "You're back."

Deidara stared. "So I am."

"…"

"…"

"Well this is awkward," Shisui commented. A large smile spread across his face as he clapped his hands together. "Who wants to go fishing?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry for the abrupt end but there was no where else to cut it off.**

**Let me know if there was anything you didn't understand concerning that crazy Toshiaki-kun and his intentions :D**


	8. Trip To The Lake And Danger

**A/N: Here's part two! Hooray!**

**Okay- we're supposed to be getting a hurricane tomorrow and I'm not sure what it's going to do. Let's just hope for the best and that no serious damage gets done. **

**Warning: Language, slight violence, OOC...**

* * *

><p>Itachi and Deidara deadpanned, holding identical fishing rods. "He wasn't kidding," they uttered in unison.<p>

Shisui patted them on the back as he walked by, his own rod over one of his shoulder. "Don't look so down," he said.

"Why are we here?" Itachi asked, glaring at the large lake they stood in front of. It stretched across the entire spanse of the tree-enclosed clearing they were in- the surface bobbing with light waves every time a gust of wind passed through. He might have enjoyed the serene scenery had it not been for the fact that Shisui had blindfolded and dragged him down here.

For no reason.

He was perfectly capable of walking to the outskirts of the village just fine on his own.

Shisui hummed happily in the back of his throat, fixing the two younger males with a bright light in his eyes. "We're here because of a matter concerning your friends from Akatsuki. I don't plan on searching the caves until the morning since they grow particularly dangerous at night- so here's something we can do in the meantime."

Both Itachi and Deidara blinked. "Akatsuki...?"

Shisui nodded. "Yup! Pein mailed me last night requesting some help, but it slipped my mind with all those shinobi ambushing us," he musingly said.

Itachi popped a vein. "Don't sound so happy when people we know could be in trouble!"

His older cousin carelessly waved a hand. "Oh it's nothing too serious, so you can relax a bit," he said. "They dropped a pair of rings they were planning to send to you two via messenger hawk. The rings are supposed to show your undying bonds of friendship and unity for the Club. But the hawk got struck by a loose kunai from the village and fell into the lake."

Itachi gave him a look that said he didn't believe him at all. "What kind of person can throw a kunai all the way out here and hit a bird dead-on?"

"Someone with really bad aim," Shisui said with a snicker.

Itachi glowered.

Deidara walked to the edge of the lake, teetering on his toes as he looked into the murky waters. "Please don't tell me we have to find a dead bird in this thing un."

Shisui grabbed the blonde by the back of his vest. "Iie. Just the rings. But the water here is potentially fatal so it would be unwise to go in."

Deidara curiously raised a brow as he was forcibly pulled to where Itachi gruffly stood. "So that's why we have fishing rods..."

"Mm-hmm..."

"...Shisui-kun?"

"Yes?"

Deidara felt his brow begin to twitch. "You realize it's going to be impossible to find _anything _in this lake, right un? Let alone with a _fishing _hook the size of my toenail."

Shisui merrily laughed. "We can't say anything until we try."

Itachi stared at the seventeen year old Uchiha with a dark look. "What about my parents? And the bounty hunter?"

"I knew you'd ask that," Shisui said, looking a tad more calm. "You know how I explained to you about Toshiaki-kun wanting to destroy everyone Deidara knew as well?"

Itachi warily nodded as Deidara occupied himself with untangling the hook out of his pant leg.

"Well the rings Pein lost allow access into the clubhouse," Shisui explained.

"Their giant boulder?" Itachi dryly asked.

"That's the one." Shisui smiled and went to help Deidara before his pants were ripped off. "If Toshiaki-kun gets his hands on the rings, he'll surely go and attack them the first chance he gets. Even if the shinobi he sends are incredibly weak, it would still be smart to prevent that from happening for in the future."

"I don't get it," Itachi muttered.

"Well I do un," Deidara said, huffily fixing his vest. "Didn't he say Kaeru-sensei was watching the movements of those in Club Akatsuki ever since Kisame took down that bird of his?"

Itachi glared. "I heard perfectly fine," he snapped.

Deidara and Shisui exchanged broad grins.

"He _so _didn't," Shisui said.

"Itachi-kun is such a liar," Deidara sniggered.

"Liar, liar, pants on fire~" they mockingly sang.

Itachi's eyes dangerously narrowed.

* * *

><p><strong>-Five Minutes Later-<strong>

* * *

><p>Shisui grinned, a large welt on his head. "Okay. I'll stay here and fish. You two spread out and try your luck."<p>

"Oki-doki," Deidara said, an equally large welt on his own head. He took his fishing rod and followed after Itacho who was already stalking off towards the opposite side of the lake.

"..."

"..."

Itachi ground his teeth together, pivoting on his hell to jab Deidara in the chest. "What are you doing Dei-da-ra?"

The blonde impishly grinned. "Going to find a spot to fish_. Duh_."

Itachi's fingers clenched and unclenched as he turned back around. "Go find someplace else."

"No way un!"

Letting out an angry sigh, Itachi stopped where he was and faced the water. "Fine. I'll fish here. You go on the other side of the lake and-"

"Too late," Deidara said in a bored voice, his line already cast in the lake.

Itachi popped a vein. "Why you infuriating little-"

Deidara grinned, listening to the older teen rant_. Boy does this guy get riled up easily. _

* * *

><p><strong>-An Hour Later-<strong>

* * *

><p>Itachi sat near the lake's end, his eyebrow twitching uncontrollably. Deidara was humming obnoxiously fifteen feet away, and Shisui was whistling off-key and loudly from across the lake<em>. They're both lucky I don't feel like getting up and one of them is on the other side of this giant pond<em>, he darkly thought.

Suddenly, there was a sharp prick in his leg.

He looked down to see a fishing hook caught in the bottom hem.

"Sorry!" Deidara called with a hand cupped over his mouth, although he was laughing. "I was casting the line and it got stuck!"

Itachi ripped the hook out and tossed it away. "Just watch where you're aiming!" he angrily shouted back.

Shisui was now doing a jig by himself, hands on his hips.

Itachi had to try hard not to use a Katon jutsu on him.

And apparently Deidara had horrible aim, because the blonde's fishing hook got stuck in his clothing six more times within the next minute and a half.

Itachi was very near his patience end.

He snatched the next hook that came his way without even looking, turning his furious gaze onto the smirking blonde causing his aggravation. "Do. You. _Mind?_"

Deidara grinned. "Can I have my line back un?"

Itachi stood, stomping over to him. "I'll give you your line back alright," he grumbled, several tick marks on his forehead.

Deidara raised his hands defensively. "You can't beat me up when your cousin isn't here to save me!" he exclaimed.

"What?" Itachi looked over his shoulder to find that the older Uchiha had _indeed _gone missing. "Oh you have _got _to be kidding me," he muttered.

Deidara smirked, raising his fishing rod while Itachi wasn't looking to try and bash him over the head.

With a sigh- and having well expected an attack from behind- Itachi turned on his heel and kicked the blonde several feet away from him.

"Waaghh un!"

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Itachi asked.

Deidara warily straightened from where he had stumbled, coughing into a closed fist. "Ano..."

Itachi gave him a very blank look before the corners of his lips turned up into a smile. He beckoned with his free hand, the other one clutching his rod lightly. "Are you coming at me or what?"

"...!" Deidara's eyes widened. And then he eagerly lunged at the raven, excited to spar a bit. Even if the choice of weapons was a little odd.

Itachi quickly raised his fishing rod to block.

* * *

><p><strong>-Three Minutes Later-<strong>

* * *

><p>Deidara angrily hacked at Itachi's fishing pole. "Quit- blocking- already- un!" he said with each strike.<p>

Itachi couldn't help but grin at the bomber's irritation. "You get angry way too easily," he commented, parrying a few strikes before finally attacking with his own.

"I should be saying that to you," Deidara muttered.

"You're not doing so bad though," Itachi lazily fended off a sharp whack from Deidara and moved to the side.

"It's like fighting with a sword un," Deidara arrogantly said, stepping closer. "And I've had plenty of practice with one."

Itachi smirked and took a step back to avoid a jab. "Yes it's like a sword. Except that a sword-" he pulled the tip of Deidara's rod back. "-doesn't bend." He let it go and watched in satisfaction as the pole smacked the blonde square in the nose.

"Ow!" Deidara held a hand to his face, visible eye narrowing. "Why you-!"

Itachi easily swept Deidara's feet out from under him, stabbing the tip of his fishing rod into the Iwa nin's chest triumphantly. "I told you you're too cocky."

Deidara grinned and grabbed the other teen's rod, yanking it forward and causing Itachi to tumble down towards his face. He brought a leg up before their foreheads could make contact, holding Itachi at bay with his foot in his stomach and throwing both of their rods off to the side. He victoriously smirked. "Anyone can gain the advantage if they think a little un."

Itachi raised a brow and then rolled off of the leg keeping him up. "You are right," he said, brushing himself down. "Although I could have plunged my fingers through your neck or snapped your leg back."

Deidara snickered and climbed to his feet. "But you didn't."

"Don't make me change my mind," Itachi grumbled. He paused and then looked at the younger blonde. "What happened to our fishing rods?"

Deidara blinked. "I threw them somewhere un."

"Somewhere?" Itachi gave him an exasperated look. "As in somewhere off to the side where the lake is?"

"..."

"..."

"...Oops."

Itachi face-palmed. "Great. We lost the fishing rods _and _Shisui. Now what are we supposed to do?"

Deidara peered into the water. "Well, I guess the only thing left to do is swim down to the bottom un."

Itachi looked at him in disbelief. "What? No way!"

Deidara frowned at the fifteen year old. "Why not?"

"In case you weren't _listening_," Itachi said with an annoyed roll of his eyes, "Shisui told us this lake was dangerous and that we shouldn't go in."

Deidara huffed, aready throwing off his vest. "Oh come on Itachi. Does this lake _look _dangerous to you?"

Itachi frowned. "You don't know what's underneath," he said, eyeing the calm waters in front of them. The setting sun cast a dark orange hue across its rippling surface, but there was a great shadow gathered towards the center of the lake. One that told him the lake was deeper than he originally thought it to be.

On the ground, Deidara had taken to removing his sandals, setting them beside his vest.

Itachi stared at him. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going in. I said that already didn't I hmm?" The Iwa nin looked at him smugly. "Worried you'll sink?"

Itachi gave him a sour look. "I'm not going to sink," he said. "I just honestly think this is a bad idea."

Deidara let out an exasperated sigh, pushing to his feet. "Kami forbid you get a little seaweed in your hair un. I haven't gone swimming in a long time, so if you'll excuse me..." he stepped towards the lake's edge.

Itachi felt a brow quirk. "Does this look like the beach to you?"

"Killjoy," the blonde scoffed. He smirked and then stretched his arms above his head. "Stay up here then. I'll just find the rings all on my own yeah," he said before diving in.

Itachi blinked as the blonde seamlessly entered the lake before smacking himself in the head. "What an idiot. He's going to screw something up," he grumbled, pulling off his own shirt and sandals. He suspiciously looked at the lake and then glanced around the clearing once for any sign of his cousin. "If we die- I'm blaming him." He quickly slipped into the surprisingly warm water and swam under.

_Damn... I can't see anything through this murk, _Itachi irritably thought. _I'll just have to find Deidara-no-baka's chakra signature then..._

~X~

Shisui amusedly watched as his cousin and Deidara disappeared into the lake, sitting on the branch of a nearby tree and tossing a stone up and down in his hand. "So you would ignore my warning and go in anyway? What a pair of idiots."

~X~

Deidara pushed through the water, finding it thicker than he thought it would be. Even though he couldn't see very well, he knew he was swimming down so it must have meant he was going the right way. The right way for what was a debatable question. _Should I get the rings or the fishing rods? Well why would I get the fishing rods? There's no point to that now that I'm in here. _

Something brushed by his cheek.

Deidara swatted it away. _How long can I hold my breath for again? _

It slapped his cheek again.

Deidara pushed it away, a bit more irritably this time. _Finding the rings in this is going to take a while. So I'll have to hit the surface soon..._

This time it dragged slowly across his forehead and tickled his arm.

_Maybe in three minutes and WHAT THE HELL KEEPS TOUCHING ME! _he inwardly screamed, glancing around the muddy water with a popped vein.

Suddenly a thick, suction-cupped, tentacle snapped around his body, yanking him into the abyss that was the center of the lake. In partial alarm, Deidara sent out a short flare of chakra that blasted the water around him. Although it didn't make the grip on him any looser. _...Crap. _

Itachi raised a brow and looked somewhere off to the side, a couple of bubbles escaping his mouth as realization dawned on him. _That was definitely Deidara. What's going... _His eyes widened as a slimy tentacle wrapped around his ankle and roughly pulled him down. _What the-!_

~X~

Shisui smiled as a large ripple raced across the lake's surface. "Oh well." He caught the stone in a fist. "We'll just have to see what happens now..."

The lake began to bubble.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Oh dear, what exactly is Shisui up to?**

**Well Itachi and Deidara seem to be having some trouble that might prove harder to get out of then they think. **

**Until next time~**


End file.
